Samsung has just announced its teamed up with Barnes and Noble in order to launch the all-new Galaxy Tab 4 Nook. The slate is available to purchase in the United States starting today for $179 after a $20 instant rebate from any of the booksellers bricks-and-mortar stores or its website.

The 7-inch device is almost identical to the original Galaxy Tab 4 — inside and out — but, unlike its counterpart, it comes pre-loaded with Nook’s standard suite of apps and an extremely simple custom user interface as opposed to Samsung’s unimpressive TouchWiz.

According to Barnes and Noble, the Nook is the first ever Android tablet that’s been fully optimised for reading. Its built-in software is primarily designed to give users instant access to media — books, magazines, videos and TV. This device runs a custom build of Android so users will still have access to the Google Play Store where they can download, apps, games and more.

The Tab 4 Nook will come with an astonishing $200 worth of free content from Barnes & Noble, which includes books, magazines, and TV show episodes. If you mainly use your tablet for reading and you want to avoid Samsung’s regular TouchWiz user interface, this just might be the perfect tablet for you.

In terms of specifications, the device sports a 7-inch display with a 1280×800 resolution, is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 processor with 1.5GB of RAM. It’s available with 8GB or 16GB of internal storage (expandable up to 64GB via microSD) and it has a 3-megapixel rear-facing camera.

Will you be picking up a Galaxy Tab 4 Nook? Be sure to let us know in the comments section down below.