Samsung and Barnes & Noble have officially introduced the new Galaxy Tab 4 Nook, a 7-inch tablet that combines the two companies' expertise to offer the best of both worlds.

Barnes & Noble hasn't enjoyed much success so far with its Nook lineup of tablets, but this new partnership may help turn things around. The new Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook comes as the first tablet to emerge out of this partnership and it's essentially identical as the original 7-inch Tab 4, but comes with Barnes & Noble's software on board instead of Samsung's TouchWiz UX.

Nevertheless, the tablet will still sport some of the most popular features found on Samsung devices, including the Multi Window feature for handling two apps at the same time. From Barnes & Noble's part, meanwhile, the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook will offer more than three million books, a comprehensive newsstand, as well as plenty of TV shows and movies.

"With tablet tools for everyday use and an endless collection of reading and entertainment options, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK lets readers connect to the world when they need to, and escape from it whenever they want," touts the press release on Wednesday, Aug. 20.

"The Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK is the most advanced NOOK ever, delivering the great NOOK experience our customers have come to love, with the high-performance tablet features they've asked for," further boasts Barnes & Noble CEO Michael P. Huseby. "We invite reading and entertainment fans to visit their local Barnes & Noble store to experience the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK. Once they do, we're certain they will make this innovative device part of their daily routine."

"We've taken our bestselling Samsung Galaxy tablet and made it the best tablet available for reading and entertainment," adds Tim Baxter, President of Samsung Electronics America. "We are excited to bring the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK to customers through Barnes & Noble's bookstores nationwide."

In terms of specifications, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK should offer identical hardware to the 7-inch version of the original Galaxy Tab 4. That means a 7-inch display with a 1280 x 800 pixels, a quad-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz, 1.5GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage capacity, and microSD support for additional storage of up to 64GB. Other specs of the original 7-inch Galaxy Tab 4 include a 3-megapixel rear camera, a 1.3-megapixel front shooter, and a 4,000 mAh battery. The companies did not reveal much regarding the specs of the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook, but it shouldn't have any notable changes compared to the 7-inch Tab 4. On the software side, the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook runs Android 4.4 KitKat with Barnes & Noble's interface on top.

The ad-free Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook is immediately available in white and black color options in 8GB models, with a $179 price tag after a $20 instant rebate at Barnes & Noble bookstores, on BN.com, and NOOK.com.

Lastly, Barnes & Noble is also offering $200 worth of free Nook reading and entertainment content, a $5 credit for the Nook store, and up to four 14-day free trial subscriptions from 12 magazines.