Eli Blumenthal

Special for USA TODAY

NEW YORK -- Barnes and Noble is back in the tablet game.

After taking a brief break, the bookseller has partnered with Samsung on a special version of the company's Galaxy Tab 4, dubbed the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook. The new tablet, which comes in black or white, features a 7-inch HD display, quad-core processor, 8 GB of storage (with the ability to add more through the microSD card slot), Android 4.4 Kit Kat, and is thinner and lighter than previous Nook devices at 9.74 ounces. The new Nook also adds a 3-megapixel rear camera and 1.3 megapixel front camera, firsts for Nook devices.

The Samsung-made Galaxy Tab 4 Nook is the first new Nook tablet since the Nook HD+ released two years ago and the first Nook made by a third party.

In an attempt to make the device more appealing in the competitive tablet market, Barnes and Noble is leveraging its 660 physical stores with a new customer support service called "Barnes and Noble Advantage." Similar to Apple's Genius Bar and Amazon's Mayday, Nook owners having trouble with their devices can walk into their local Barnes and Noble store to get help, with no appointment necessary. The company says the reps will be able to help set up new devices, troubleshoot problems as well as provide recommendations to users on what they should read next.

Similar to earlier Nook devices the Samsung Nook will feature a "Nook Shop" app offering access to books, TV shows, movies, magazines and apps. Barnes and Noble will also be offering "$200 in free content" with the purchase of the new Nook device, including eBooks of Freakonomics, The Wanderer, and I Am Number Four, and an episode from HBO's Veep, NBC Universal's Hannibal, and BBC America's Orphan Black.

The company will also offer 14-day free trial subscriptions from a variety of magazines including Cosmopolitan, Sports Illustrated, and US Weekly, and users will also receive $5 to spend in the Nook Store. Like the Galaxy Tab 4 that the new Nook is based off of, the tablet will also have access to Google's rival Google Play store.

The new Nook is available today in Barnes and Noble stores and online for $179 after a $20 instant-rebate.