Samsung-made Nook tablet announced by Barnes and Noble

The US book chain is marketing the device as the
"first-ever full-featured Android tablet optimised
for reading", based on its inclusion of pre-
installed Nook apps and homescreen shortcuts.
However, its screen is lower resolution than
Kobo's Android-powered Arc 7HD.
One analyst said it would be an "uphill struggle"
to sell the new device.
"There is growing consumer apathy to this
growing class of low-cost tablets," said Ben
Wood, from the tech consultancy CCS Insight.
"Although there is the Nook angle on this, it goes
into the melting pot with numerous other tablets
that will appear in this price point as we run up
to Christmas.
"Amazon has pretty much locked out the market
in reading-focused tablets anyway, the only thing
I'd applaud here is the fact that Barnes & Noble
has gone to Samsung, which can give it scale and
quality."
The tablet is branded with Samsung's logo but
has the book store's apps pre-installed
The advantage that the 7in (17.8cm)-screened
Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook has over Amazon's
Fire tablets is that it can easily access the
Google Play marketplace. Amazon's tablet uses a
proprietary store with fewer apps available.
Costing $179 (£107), the new Nook is also
cheaper than the Kindle Fire HDX and Kobo Arc
7HD.
However with only 216 pixels per inch, text will
appear less sharp on its screen. Likewise,
magazines and movies sold from the included
Nook Newsstand and Nook Video apps will
present less detail than similar purchases on
either the two other Android machines or Apple's
bestselling iPad Mini, which also has its own
dedicated ebook store.
Amazon and Kobo have book-focused tablets
with higher resolution screens
Even so, one market watcher said the tie-up still
made business sense. Samsung should benefit
from the exposure of having its machine
promoted in Barnes & Noble's stores and website,
while the retailer gets to cut its costs after
posting a $47m (£28.2m) net loss for its last
financial year.
"It's very hard to make money out of mobile
devices," said Ian Fogg, from the IHS
consultancy.
"But by having this partnership, Barnes & Noble
can have its own content and services pre-
installed so that they are not just front-of-mind
but also front-of-eyes for consumers.
"If it wants to get its apps used on other people's
devices it has to persuade people to install them
instead of a Kindle app or another competitor -
that visibility is very important."
At the moment the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook
is only available in the US.
Barnes and Noble will continue to sell e-ink
readers, including the Nook GlowLight, which was
launched in the UK earlier this month.