AppleInsider Staff
Though Barnes & Noble no longer makes its own tablets, it's still in the hardware business with a brand-new $179 Nook intended to take on the iPad, this time with a model built by Apple's chief rival, Samsung.
The Galaxy Tab 4 Nook was officially announced by the bookseller on Wednesday, pitched as a full Android tablet that can also serve as a suitable e-reader. The device targets Apple's iPad mini in the low end of the tablet market, with a 7-inch display and $179 starting price after $20 instant rebate.
The Nook is now available in more than 660 Barnes & Noble stores, as well as through the company's website. It weighs in at 0.6 pounds, slightly undercutting Apple's 0.69-pound iPad mini but with a smaller diagonal display size.
The Galaxy Tab-branded Nook is also 0.35 inches thick, measuring slightly thicker than the iPad mini with Retina display, which measures 0.29 inches. It also has a 1.3-megapixel front camera, 3-megapixel rear camera, Wi-Fi connectivity, GPS support, and comes with 8 gigabytes of storage.
The 7-inch display has a screen resolution of 1,280 by 800 pixels, and it's powered by a 1.2-gigahertz quad-core Snapdragon processor. The Galaxy Tab 4 Nook runs Android 4.4 KitKat, but features the Barnes & Noble Nook store rather than Google Play or Samsung Hub.
Other aspects of Android have been customized, much like previous Nook tablets, including the Nook Library widget on the home screen, displaying recently read titles and new recommended books.
Barnes & Noble is also offering more than $200 worth of free content with new purchases, including popular titles like "Freakonomics," single episodes of shows like HBO's "Veep," and 14-day free trial subscriptions to a range of magazines including "Sports Illustrated." Complimentary content will continue to be made available on an ongoing basis through Barnes & Noble's "Free Fridays" program, offering Nook books, videos or apps every week.
Barnes & Noble entered the hardware business in 2011 with the launch of its first Nook, which was a black-and-white e-reader designed to compete with Amazon's popular book-focused Kindle. But as the iPad began to chip away at traditional e-reader sales, the company released a full color touchscreen tablet in 2012 dubbed the Nook HD+.
Barnes & Noble's stint in the hardware-making business proved short-lived, however, as the company announced in 2013 that it would no longer design and build its own Nook tablets. Instead, going forward it will partner with established hardware makers to sell Nook-branded devices at its stores.
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
Andrew Orr
William Gallagher
56 Comments
I think B&N and Nook would be thrilled enough just to "take on" the Kindle...
slightly closer to "picking' on someone their own size".
The next "iPad-Killer" has arrived.
It's great for the price! But there's no comparing it to the iPad, which is in a different price range entirely. Different price range, different specs. Higher priced iPad, better device (usually).
So it's plastic with an inch smaller screen than the iPad mini but it's thicker and barely any lighter? What a piece of junk. I'll take the old 1stGen mini over the new Barnes & Noble Scamsung Crook.
That Android tablet and inferior wanna be iPad Mini is terrible!
Who in their right mind would buy one of those?
I've seen iPad Minis going for as little as $199 recently. My message to any cheapo Samsung Nook buyers is this: Yeah, I know it's a lot for you, but spend an extra lousy twenty dollars and get the far superior tablet, the damn iPad Mini. The choice is so obvious.
(1) Better and more refined OS that is easier and more enjoyable to use
(2) More secure
(3) The best app selection and variety on the planet
(4) It's from an American company that innovates, not some foreign company that makes cheap and ugly knockoffs
(5) Far superior tech support should you ever need it. Are you going to walk into a Samsung Store or Barnes and Nobles and have them fix your tablet? Fat Chance!
(6) Do you want to be known as cheap and technically ignorant when people in the know judge you based on your ignorant tablet choosing skills?
(7) Do you want to be a walking joke and have people laughing at you from all directions?
Get the damn iPad Mini, don't be stupid.