There will be a new Nook. According to a new partnership announced between Samsung and Barnes & Noble, the two sides are to develop and design a co-branded Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook tablet that will have full access to B&N's plethora of digital titles.
The new device will maintain the customized Nook software that aims to deliver power, speed and a number of unique features designed with reading in perspective. It comes as the major bookseller continues to expand its digital collection, which now numbers more than 3 million books, newspapers and magazines, all viewable from the Nook.
The release of the new tablet is expected sometime in August and it will be put alongside the traditional Nook e-readers -- 6-inch e-reader and 7-inch and 9-inch tablets -- that are sold at B&N's more than 650 locations across the country. It is also to be available on the store's website.
"We are very excited and proud to partner with Samsung, a world-class technology and tablet leader, to create customized co-branded devices featuring our valuable Nook reading experience and digital content catalog for Barnes & Noble customers nationwide," said Michael P. Huseby, Chief Executive Officer of Barnes & Noble, in a statement announcing the partnership.
"Standing behind these great new devices will be the power of our 40,000 Barnes & Noble booksellers combined with our deep bookselling and retail expertise to provide sales support and personalized in-store customer service for our lineup of new Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook products. Partnering with Samsung brings our customers great new products and evidences our commitment to our Nook customers and growing our digital content business."
The e-reader sector has grown dramatically in recent years, but has largely been dominated by Amazon.com's Kindle and its massive digital store, but B&N and Samsung believe that by delivering a tablet Nook that offers more functionality and greater access to digital content, it could be a product to finally truly compete against Amazon and its Kindle.
According to media information, the two companies have been discussing potential partnerships in the recent past and Samsung said it was hopeful that this will be the beginning of a new tablet sector and e-readers to give users more choice in choosing how to read.
"Samsung has had a strong relationship with Barnes & Noble, offering the company's award-winning reading experience to users of Galaxy Tab products," said Tim Baxter, president of Samsung Electronics America.
