Barnes & Noble and Samsung are teaming up for their third co-branded Nook.
The two companies expanded the selection of their reading-optimized co-branded Android tablets with the launch today of the 8-inch Galaxy Tab S2 Nook, available in Barnes &Noble stores and Nook.com.
The tablet, based on Samsung’s recently announced Tab S2, is priced at $399, with an additional 10 percent off for Barnes & Noble members. It joins the 10-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook 10 at $249 and the 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook at $149.
Last year, Barnes & Noble teamed up with Samsung for the first time to launch a co-branded reading tablet to rationalize the Nook e-book and e-reader/tablet business and reduce costs associated with designing and manufacturing its own reading tablets.
Barnes & Noble also offers the Nook GlowLight e-reader at $99.
The Tab S2 is Samsung’s latest flagship tablet, available in two sizes. Pricing and specs of the Wi-Fi and LTE-equipped models are here. Key features include thin Super AMOLED displays, 3GB RAM, octacore processor (quad 1.9GHz plus quad 1.3GHz), 8- and 2.1-megapixel cameras, and Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac with MIMO.
The Nook version of the 8-inch tablet accesses the Nook Store to download more than 4 million books along with comic books and graphic novels, more than 110,000 children’s books , and 100 U.S. magazines. Downloadable Nook Apps include lifestyle, productivity, news, entertainment and other apps. TV shows and movies are also available for purchase or rental.
Barnes & Noble, the No. 1 bookseller chain, is presently helmed by former Sony, Best Buy, Toys“R”Us and Sears exec Ron Boire, who joined the company from Sears Canada in July.
