Samsung and Barnes & Noble Event August 20th

[Froide]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

• Galaxy Nook 7" -- 1280 x 800 = 216 ppi

• Fire HDX 8.9" -- 2560 x 1600 = 339 ppi
• iPad mini 2 7.9" -- 2048 x 1536 = 326 ppi
• Fire HDX 7" -- 1920 x 1200 = 323 ppi
• Nexus 7.2 -- 1920 x 1200 = 323 ppi

• iPad Air 9.7" -- 2048 x 1536 = 264 ppi
• iPad 4 9.7" -- 2048 x 1536 = 264 ppi
  
• Nook HD+ 9" -- 1920 x 1280 = 256 ppi
• Fire HD 8.9" -- 1920 x 1200 = 254 ppi
  
• Nook HD 7" -- 1440 x 900 = 243 ppi

• Fire HD 7" -- 1280 x 800 = 216 ppi
• Galaxy Tab 4 7" -- 1280 x 800 = 216 ppi
• Nexus 7.1 -- 1280 x 800 = 216 ppi

• Fire 2nd 7" -- 1024 x 600 = 169 ppi
• Galaxy Tab 3 7" -- 1024 x 600 = 169 ppi
  
• NOOK Tablet 7" -- 1024 X 600, 169 ppi
• iPad mini 1 7.9" -- 1024 x 768 = 163 ppi

The disappointing news:

• The screen specs for the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK 7" are a step down from the NOOK HD and NOOK HD+
• The 8GB onboard storage is paltry
• The price difference from the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK 7" is minimal

The meh news:

• The screen specs for the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK 7" are a step up from the NOOK Tablet (which I enjoyed reading on)
• The Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK 7"accommodates a 32GB microSD card

The upshot:

• Doubtful I'd buy the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK 7" for myself, as it would be two steps down from my NOOK HD 7"
• The device seems like a nice and affordable ereader/tablet for first-timers

[ProfCrash]

So BN looks like they made another misstep here? The new device doesn't stand out in a crowded market and the bonuses are not going to lure people into a BN to buy one. I would be shocked if this does well.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Does it have to be the Galaxy 4 only? If Samsung makes a 5, can they migrate to the latest device?

Depends on the contract.
All we know if what the SEC filing offered up.
The filing mentioned an option for a 10in model but it wasn't clear if it counted towards the million count or would be separate.

It really is going to come down to B&N's store staff's ability to sell the things to their book buyers.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

So BN looks like they made another misstep here? The new device doesn't stand out in a crowded market and the bonuses are not going to lure people into a BN to buy one. I would be shocked if this does well.

Well, it doesn't look like a homerun.
It's not a pricing disaster like the newest eink Nook or Sony T3 (as in, "only for fans") but it isn't likely to bring in too many not already committed to B&N.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I didn't realize the price was cheaper than a standard Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 when they're not on sale. So I can see B&N customers buying these (not me, I like eInk readers). For some reason I thought these Samsung 7" tablets were in the $140 range or so (it shows what I know about tablets). I still wish B&N would bring back something to replace the NST at the low-end. It wouldn't even have to be touch screen.

The Galaxy Tab 3 *is* in the $140 range.
The 4 is list-priced at $199 but discounted to $179 pretty much full time.
It is the regular price at Amazon, for example.

An, as pointed out above, the generic Samsung version comes with more flexible/valuable perks, especially on the audio book side.

[tubemonkey]

And since this version will only be sold at B&N, only the Nook faithful will hear about it. That means anyone else in the market for a Galaxy Tab will end up getting stock Samsung from a big box store.

[bobstro]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

And since this version will only be sold at B&N, only the Nook faithful will hear about it. That means anyone else in the market for a Galaxy Tab will end up getting stock Samsung from a big box store.

True, perhaps, but keep in mind that B&N isn't expecting to reap millions in profits from device sales. They want to sell media. And a lot of people who might buy that media might browse B&N's shelves in B&M stores. Those are people who won't see anything from B&N if they don't offer a device in-store. In other words, building the legions of NOOK faithful is the intent. The ability to buy mom, dad, grandma or grandpa or any other loved one a device that they can use without being a techie, and count on (usually) local in-store support is a huge plus that nobody else selling tablets has except apple. (Not that I'm aware of!) Considering the way age demographics are going in the US, perhaps that's a smart move. So yeah, it's the Jitterbug phone of tablets.

B&N doesn't have a chance trying to compete on hardware. They tried. They thought they were Apple. They lost. Badly. I think they've learned some lessons, and will be content to grow profitable media sales rather than the low-margin device sales.

I think they're happy to let Amazon and Samsung slug it out for the razor-thin profits on device sales and sell books... and maybe video. It's what they know, it's what they do. It makes sense. Well, to me at least.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Does it have to be the Galaxy 4 only? If Samsung makes a 5, can they migrate to the latest device?

Why, we should expect the 5 next week, and the 6 probably 2 weeks later, given the rate at which Samsung is churning out tablets...

[detayls]

I went to our local B & N store to look at the SG Nook and could not operate it in any reasonable way.

It comes up in the normal Android skin and all that differentiates it are the pre-loaded Nook Apps like Store etc.

The sales lady there could not operate it after a customer, not me, had left in a silly state.

The reading app is hard to find and very basic. The font choices are minimal and useless. There was no way I could see to adjust margin and line spacing.

All in all a dreadful experience, likely to put most new users off.

Coincidentally the Samsung vanilla Tab 4 is on sale for $159 at the Costco store up the road. Avoid!

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by afv011

Why, we should expect the 5 next week, and the 6 probably 2 weeks later, given the rate at which Samsung is churning out tablets...

They still don't turn over tabs that fast. They now got 4 distinct versions of tablets with different prices. That is a good thing compared to Apple that limits the choice to screen size and memory.

You got the cheap entry tablet ( tab 4), a cheap hi res version (tab pro), the pen input Note, and the premium hi res display S series. Eventually I see the tab pro disappering and merge with the S series once the Note S comes out. And maybe, just maybe, samsung will start making only OLED tabs - entry low res, hi res, hi res with pen input. And then the different screen sizes in each series.

Looking at the devices in Walmart, the 7" Tab4 does look really sleek compared to the Tab3. It looks even easier to hold than the iPad min retina. And that is how non-technical customers are going to decide: they see a cool looking device within their budget and they grab it.

For myself I am waiting for the 8" tab s (or something similar speced) to go down in price to around $250 or below until I am willing to upgrade from the 10" tab2 I am using (as in literally right now).

[tubemonkey]

Wonder what B&N will do this Black Friday in reference to the Galaxy Nook? Last year, the Galaxy Tab 3 went on sale for $110. I expect the Tab 4 to get low pricing this year.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by bobstro

True, perhaps, but keep in mind that B&N isn't expecting to reap millions in profits from device sales. They want to sell media. And a lot of people who might buy that media might browse B&N's shelves in B&M stores. Those are people who won't see anything from B&N if they don't offer a device in-store. In other words, building the legions of NOOK faithful is the intent. The ability to buy mom, dad, grandma or grandpa or any other loved one a device that they can use without being a techie, and count on (usually) local in-store support is a huge plus that nobody else selling tablets has except apple. (Not that I'm aware of!) Considering the way age demographics are going in the US, perhaps that's a smart move. So yeah, it's the Jitterbug phone of tablets.

Better accomplished by producing a well made multimedia app for Android, iOS, and Windows. Then installing said app on the phones and tablets of customers visiting the stores.

[bobstro]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Better accomplished by producing a well made multimedia app for Android, iOS, and Windows. Then installing said app on the phones and tablets of customers visiting the stores.

Although I'm doubtful B&N would take on installing the app on an endless variety of customer devices, there's nothing in the current approach that would actually preclude them from doing so. First, of course, they need to get that app suite into the GoPS.

Still, there's a lot to be said for having a simple device that moms & dads can take into the store for help. My 85+ year old father in law makes regular visits to the Apple store, and I'm sure drives them nuts in the process. That gets me out of the family tech support role, and I'm fine with that. I'm not an iPad fan, but for him (and me) it was perfect. If anybody in the family were looking for an ebook reader, I might recommend the SGT4N for that same reason.

By selling a relatively simple device, B&N can say "this is the supported platform" -- the safe bet for non-technophiles -- while still working on an app suite to push media to the more savvy audience who can load it themselves.

I was able to do additional tests. Some good news on the storage front:

• My Samsung high-performance 64 GB microSDXC card worked. It took a few minutes to, settle down (the card is nearly full) but once it did, I was able to use the File Manager to view and manipulate files on the card.
• Move app to SD card also worked. While most of the pre-loaded stuff couldn't be moved, Skype could be moved in the standard Applications settings.

So storage, though limited internally, isn't as much of a big deal as 8 GB might sound, and using SD is about like any other KitKat device. A few poor choices for defaults though:

• When I opened an epub book in File Manager, it offered to open it in the NOOK app or upload to Google Books.
• I'm used to the left button being the menu on my Note. On the SGT4N, that launches the task manager. Unfortunately, it kept popping up a Samsung warning about not having a menu key. This was annoying and potentially could spook non-technical folks.

Neither of these are a big deal, and you can set a default for each. Still, someone should've at least set reasonable defaults that don't promote the competition! I didn't notice if the Kindle for Samsung app was present, but it didn't jump out at me.

I wasn't able to determine if B&N books can be loaded to uSD.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by bobstro

Still, there's a lot to be said for having a simple device that moms & dads can take into the store for help.

Except in my experience B&N Nook experts, or whatever they call them, usually only know the very basics and nothing about troubleshooting. Maybe they've started training them better (or maybe it's just my store), but I haven't been at all impressed in the past as an observer.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Except in my experience B&N Nook experts, or whatever they call them, usually only know the very basics and nothing about troubleshooting. Maybe they've started training them better (or maybe it's just my store), but I haven't been at all impressed in the past as an observer.

Ever get the feeling that when you walk into a tech store that you're the expert?