Tim Baxter, president of Samsung Electronics America, left, and Mike
Huseby, CEO of Barnes & Noble, pose for a photograph during the
unveiling of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook, a co-branded tablet that
will replace B&N's Nook, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014, in New York. The
7-inch tablet will sell for $179 after a $20 instant rebate, the same
entry price of the non-branded Samsung Galaxy Tab 4. (AP Photo/John
Minchillo)
Barnes & Noble and Samsung unveiled a new reading-focused tablet that will replace the bookseller's own Nook tablets.
The 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook will sell for $179, the same entry price of the non-branded Samsung Galaxy Tab 4.
The
move had been expected since Barnes & Noble said in June it would
team up with Samsung to release co-branded Nook tablets in August.
For
the first time, the Nook will have a camera. The 1.3 megapixel camera
on the front is on par with what's on other tablets, but the 3.0
megapixel rear one isn't as sharp.
The
Nook offers access to both the Nook app store and Google's Play store
for Android apps — the latter unavailable in previous Nook tablets.
The
New York company spent years investing in its Nook e-book reader and
e-book library, but they struggled to be profitable. And in December the
chain said it was evaluating the future of its tablets. Still it
offered a new non-tablet e-book reader during the holiday season.
In an interview, Barnes
& Noble CEO Mike Huseby said Nook tablets hadn't done well in the
past because they weren't full-featured. This one, he said, has a camera
and other features expected in Android tablets, while offering
additional ones targeted at readers.
While
it's possible to install a Nook app on most Android tablets, the Nook
tablet goes further in offering a home screen with quick links to
favorites and recently read books. You can pause reading to check email
or Facebook, then hit a book icon on the corner of the home screen to
instantly resume your book.
Amazon's Kindle Fire tablets also
emphasize reading, alongside shopping, movies and other Amazon services.
They have had more success than Nooks.
Huseby
said Barnes & Noble has the advantage of having more than 600
stores where customers can come in to check out the products before
buying and return for tutorials and other help.
"Amazon
doesn't have them," he said. "You can call them on the phone or chat
online, but they don't have a store in which you can get a human contact
and expert bookseller."
B&N
has been trying to turn itself around as competition from discount
stores and online retailers toughens, and as consumers shift away from
traditional books to digital formats.
Barnes & Noble says it will continue to make and sell its $99 Nook GlowLight e-readers.
In
July, Barnes & Noble said it would separate the Nook and retail
businesses. The retail business includes bookstores and the BN.com
website and has been outperforming the Nook unit. Nook Media, whose
investors include software company Microsoft Corp. and educational book
publisher Pearson Inc., houses the digital and college businesses of
Barnes & Noble.
The company expects the separation to be complete by April 2015.
AP.
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