Gadgetory

if you're shopping for a new eReader well maybe you're in the minority the stiff competition of the multi-purpose tablet space is giving the category a tough enough time that Barnes & Noble is in the midst of spinning off its unprofitable Nook division to help arrest the losses the bookseller has partnered with Samsung to produce a hybrid tablet and the e-reader with a mouthful of a name join us for a quick hands-on look at the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 look the first thing to understand about the new Nook is that it's a not quite so new Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 that makes it pretty unremarkable as a tablet but as an e-reader it's more capable than most devices in its class going with this over say Amazon's Kindle you get the full version of Android backed by the whole power of the Google Play Store with Samsung's multi window multitasking on top Barnes & Noble is also keen to point out the dual cameras and stylish design and whether you agree with the stylish bit will be up to you but it does feel nice and trim in the hand with some comfy faux leather on the back panel sadly Samsung has made no special changes to the device's screen so you're still left with a typical LCD that won't do as well in daylight as a dedicated e-reader what's really supposed to set this off is this special Nook software we've got a home screen widget that's meant to welcome you into your own personal media library multi user support for family use and our favorite feature a persistent book button in the lower left that always returns you to whatever you were reading last which is pretty handy still it's hard to avoid being underwhelmed by the software as a whole if you've seen a Samsung tablet you've seen the new Nook Barnes & Noble is offering some nice perks this device is 179 after a $20 instant rebate and it comes with more than $200 of free media including free magazine subscriptions that include a year of back issues for die-hard readers that's a compelling value add as is the promise of in-store in-person technical support and tutorials from Barnes & Nobles across trained staff if you've been holding up for an e-reader specifically and you want something on the higher end the new Nook might be a good choice based mainly on the added value of the Android ecosystem and those barnes & noble freebies but if you're taking the whole of the tablet space into consideration as you should this is nothing really new and it's hard to see how this predictable tablet masquerading as an e-reader will excite enough people to reverse the Nook family's fortunes the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook is available now at Barnes & Noble for more smartphone tablet and wearable reviews and features subscribe here on YouTube and visit us at pocketnow.com until next time this has been michael fisher with pocket now kept in two phones on twitter keep on reading and we'll see you real soon