Quote:
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.
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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.