Sony officially launches ‘world's slimmest and lightest' tablet

The Xperia Z squeezes a 10.1-inch HD screen and huge 8 megapixel rear-facing camera into a 6.9mm thick, water-resistant shell.

The tablet, which sets new standards in the Android marketplace, will be available to buy from Q2 2013 and is the latest in a recent string of devices from the Japanese tech company that suggest Sony could be turning the corner and rediscovering what it is that made it a great hardware manufacturer.

As well as being the first tablet to use a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro asynchronous quad-core processor, the Xperia Z uses something called 'S-Force Front Surround 3D' which ensures clear stereo sound for the user, whether the tablet is held in landscape or portrait mode. It also supports NFC (near field communication) so that when it is tapped against another Sony device, it can wirelessly connect and transfer files. So if the user finds a video clip on the tablet, but wants to watch it on the big screen, touching it against the TV (as long as it's a Sony TV) will switch the video clip to the TV screen. The Xperia Z can also be used as a remote control for operating any other Sony TV, Blu-ray or music system as well as a number of devices built by other manufacturers.

Most impressive of all is its water resistance. It could be accidentally dropped in a bathtub and as long as the port covers are properly in place, the tablet should be unaffected.

It's a trait that it has in common with the Xperia Z smartphone. Demonstrated for the first time at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in January in Las Vegas, this elegant 5-inch display flagship phone will officially go on sale Monday, Sony also announced.

The Xperia Z tablet can be specified as wi-fi only or wi-fi/4GLTE and, thanks to the SD expansion slot can offer up to 64GB of internal storage. It is expected to retail for $499.