The Sony Xperia Tablet Z is now available worldwide after what seems like a fairly long wait, following the original announcement of the tablet in January 2013.

UK confirmation and pre-orders opened in March, but now Sony Mobile has confirmed that its slim and water-resistant tablet is available in shops and online. Sony says the Xperia Tablet Z has seen higher pre-orders than any previous Sony tablet, which doesn't surprise us.

The Xperia Tablet Z follows the same design story as the Xperia Z smartphone. It's only 6.9mm thick and weighs 495g, making it thinner and lighter than many 10-inch tablets.

The resistance to water might make you feel a little more assured about taking this tablet into the bath to stream the latest episode of Arrested Development from Netflix, or to Skype the folks back home, if that's what you like to do.

The display offers a nice sharp 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution, although it lacks the definition of the Nexus 10, Google's own Samsung-built tablet. It is also £70 more expensive than the Nexus, but it packs in quad-core power and a pair of respectable cameras.

READ: Best tablets 2013: The best tablets available to buy today

There's a range of accessories for the Xperia Tablet Z and the tablet also offers NFC, for easy pairing with a range of speakers and headphones, with Sony offering a full range of options. The tablet comes in both white and black and in Wi-Fi and 4G versions. Pricing starts at £399 on the Sony store. 

We're impressed with what we've seen of the Sony Xperia Tablet Z so far, and we'll be bringing you a full review very soon.