Verizon has announced that it will begin taking preorders for the Sony Xperia Z2 tablet on July 10. The waterproof tablet has a 10.1-inch full HD display and is the thinnest and lightest full-size tablet.

Sony can be credited with the growing trend of waterproof and dust-resistant smartphones. The company unveiled the Xperia Z at CES 2013 and the device was one of the most talked about smartphones at CES. To make its flagship smartphone stand out from rival Android handsets from Samsung, HTC, LG, and Motorola, Sony designed the Xperia Z to be both waterproof and dust-resistant.

It didn't take long for Samsung to want in on the waterproof action. It launched its first dust-resistant and waterproof smartphone when it announced last year's Galaxy S4 Active. Samsung has since gone on to bring that feature to its latest flagship Galaxy S5, Galaxy S5 Active, and Galaxy S5 Mini.

Sony hasn't limited waterproof and dust-resistant capabilities to some of its smartphones; the company has also used that feature in its current 10.1-inch flagship Xperia Z2 tablet. Verizon customers will soon be able to get their hands on the slate, as the carrier has just announced that it will exclusively offer the Xperia Z2 tablet to its customers.

For a limited time Verizon will make the Sony Xperia Z2 tablet available for $499.99 when preordering and signing a new 2-year contract. Anyone who preorders the Xperia Z2 will also receive a Sony Digital Noise Cancelling Headset at no additional cost, while supplies last.

The Sony Xperia Z2's dimensions are 6.77 x 10.47 x 0.25 inches and it weighs 15.48 oz. It features a 10.1-inch 1920 x 1200 Triluminos Display, is powered by a snappy 2.3 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, and has 3 GB of RAM. It ships with 32 GB of internal storage and a microSD expansion slot that will support up to 128 GB microSD cards.

The Xperia Z2 tablet's camera capabilities include an 8.1-megapixel rear camera and 2.2-megapixel front-facing camera. It's running Android 4.4.2 KitKat and is both IP55 and IP58 dust-resistant and waterproof. Sony has included a 6,000 mAh battery plus Stamina Mode to ensure long battery life. The tablet also supports Verizon's faster 4G XLTE network.

Verizon will begin selling the Xperia Z2 tablet online and in retail stores starting July 17 and will then up the price to $599.99.