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Screenshot by Shara Tibken/CNET
Here comes another Samsung event.
The company and partner Barnes & Noble plan to host a gathering August 20 in New York to show off their first co-branded tablet, the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook. The event will be held at — where else? — the Barnes & Noble in New York’s Union Square neighborhood. The invitation doesn’t provide any details about the announcement beyond saying, “Join us as the best of both worlds come together.”
See also
- Samsung, Barnes & Noble team up on tablet design
- Samsung will host Unpacked launch in three cities on Sept. 3
- Samsung has two new high-end smartphones coming this year
Samsung and Barnes & Noble unveiled a new partnership in June to develop Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nooks. The devices will feature Samsung’s hardware and customized Nook software from Barnes & Noble. The first Galaxy Tab 4 Nook, sporting a 7-inch display, will hit US store shelves in August, the companies said at the time.
Samsung confirmed the first Galaxy Tab 4 Nook will be shown at the event, but it declined to comment further.
The event kicks off a busy few weeks for Samsung. The Korean electronics giant plans to hold its latest Unpacked smartphone launch two weeks later, just ahead of the IFA electronics show in Berlin. Simultaneous Unpacked events, likely to show off the Galaxy Note 4, will be held September 3 in Beijing, Berlin, and New York. Samsung also will show off other electronics during IFA.
Samsung
The events come as Samsung faces tough times in the key mobile market. Makers of low-cost handsets are threatening its position in regions such as China, and fewer people are buying pricey, high-end smartphones. Tablet sales also have sputtered as consumers wait longer before upgrading to newer devices and as many opt for larger smartphones over smaller tablets. Samsung is counting on its new devices to attract buyers and improve its results.
Barnes & Noble, meanwhile, has effectively ended its foray into hardware design. The company said at the time it announced the deal with Samsung that while it will still offer its Nook GlowLight — a backlit e-ink e-reader — it will now only support the Nook slates it’s launched to that point. Leaving the hardware design to Samsung allows Barnes & Noble to focus on its own software and Nook content sales. Nooks have received good reviews, but sales have been poor.
Updated at 1:15 p.m. to reflect the event will be about the first Galaxy Tab 4 Nook.
