Sony took the wraps off a new top-of-the-range tablet device in Japan this morning as it looks to challenge Apple’s dominance in the tablets space.

The Xperia Tablet Z is a companion to the Xperia Z smartphone unveiled by the vendor at CES two weeks ago, and a successor to the two-year old Xperia Tablet S.

The LTE-equipped Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) device sports a 10.1-inch display, 8.1 megapixel camera and is powered by a Qualcomm 1.5 GHz quad-core processor.

However, the tablet’s USP looks set to be in its dimensions. Coming in at an ultra-skinny 6.9 mm thick and weighing just 495g, the Xperia Tablet Z will become one of the thinnest and lightest full-size tablets on the market.

Like its smartphone sister product, the tablet is also equipped with NFC functionality that allows wireless content sharing with other Sony devices, including its headphones and smart TVs.

The Xperia Tablet Z will launch in Japan “this Spring”. Pricing and international availability is not yet known.