Sony announced the Xperia Z smartphone at the CES recently and now its cousin, the Xperia Tablet Z has been officially announced today. The company is not very influential in the tablet market but looks like they are ready to compete with iPad with its new 10.1-inch waterproof tablet. Sony and NTT Docomo (Japanese carrier) was planning to announce the tablet on January 22 but Docomo accidentally leaked the tablet details on its website and Blog of Mobile, a popular Japanese gadget site reported the leak instantly.

Thinner than the iPad Mini

Just like its smartphone cousin, the Xperia Tablet Z is waterproof and can stay alive under 3 feet of liquid. The tablet comes with a stunning 6.9mm thickness which is thinner than the latest iPad Mini (7.2mm thick). Sony’s Xperia S tablet was also a good looking tablet but its price tag failed to compete with the cheaper alternatives.

Specs

The specs of the tablet are also as amazing as the outside of the device. The tablet features a 1080p screen, a Qualcomm 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon chip, 32GB of internal storage, 2GB of RAM, NFC and LTE support. The big 1080p screen comes with Sony’s Mobile Bravia Engine for adding attractive vibrancy and color depth to screen. Like its smartphone cousin, the tablet features an 8.1-megapixel camera with Exmor R technology.

The tablet will feature Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out-of-the-box and with two color options, black and white. It’s really amazing how this tablet is waterproof, features 8.1-megapixel camera with the Exmor R technology, quad-core chip and 2GB of RAM and is still only 6.9mm thick. It’s the thinnest tablet available so far and is both dust and water-proof. This super thick tablet also features S-Force virtual surround sound system. The tablet comes with 6,000mAh battery and weighs only 495 grams which makes this tablet the lightest 10-inch tablet at the moment.

Summary of Features:

• 1.5GHz quad-core processor
• 1080p HD 10.1-inch display
• OS: Android 4.1
• 8.1MP main camera
• 2GB RAM
• Water and dust resistant
• 32GB internal storage with microSD expansion option
• Weighs 495 grams and 6.9mm thin
• LTE and NFC Support
• S-Force Front Surround 3D technology

Availability

 We still don’t know when this tablet will be available worldwide or about its price tag but we are expecting to see this lightest and thinnest 10-inch tablet in Japanese market next week. We’ll let you know once we get to know more about its availability and pricing details.