Google may be rubbish at keeping secrets - almost everything about the Nexus 7 was leaked before Google unveiled it, and the product page even went live before the keynote began - but it appears to be getting very good at designing tablets: the Nexus 7 is a pretty nifty bit of kit. Time to reach for the credit card? Let's find out.

Google Nexus 7 release date

For once, we don't have to wait forever to get our hands on some exciting new tech: the Nexus 7 launches in the US, UK and Australia this July. That's, like, days away!

UK electronics retail chain Dixons posted a Nexus 7 release date of July 19 on its websites (including PC World and Currys), while Carphone Warehouse claims it will get stock of the tablet on July 27.

Update: TechRadar has spoken to PC World, who confirmed it received stock of the Google Nexus 7 on July 16 to its warehouse, and the tablet will be appearing on shelves later in the week.

A leaked internal document from US store Office Depot has suggested that the Nexus 7 will go on sale on July 12 - although this was when quashed by reports the tablet had been delayed.

HMV's flagship store in Oxford Street, London has posted a board at the front of the shop which states the Nexus 7 will be available from July 16 - it turns out that the store might have got its facts wrong, as July 16 may just be a pre-order date.

An HMV spokesperson told TechRadar: "We expect to fulfil these (Nexus 7 pre-orders) orders on/from 23 July."

According to several reports, some lucky folk in the UK received their Nexus 7 tablets today (July 13) from online retailer eBuyer. (via Google+)

Google Nexus 7 price

The UK price for the Nexus 7 will be £159 ($199) for the 8GB model, and the 16GB one will cost £199 ($249). That gives you not just the tablet but £15 ($25) of Google Play credit to spend too, and it means that even the priciest model is half an iPad.

Google will also offer a soft cover (but not a Surface-style keyboard one, at least not just now) and an extra charger should you need one.

Google Nexus 7 processor

Inside the Google Nexus 7 is a quad-core Tegra 3 processor packing a 12-core GPU and 1GB of on-board RAM. This, combined with some clever under-the-hood streamlining, means a buttery-smooth performance (pun intended, see below).

What does this mean in real terms? Google was at pains to stress the AWESOME GAMING POWER of a 12-core GPU. The built-in HDMI means you'll be able to connect it to your telly too

The Nexus 7 operating system is Android Jelly Bean

As you'd expect, Google's tablet runs Google's latest operating system: Android 4.1, aka Jelly Bean. It also benefits from the very polished "Project Butter" user interface technology, which is much smoother than previous Androids or Amazon's forked version of the OS, and it's the first Android tablet to ship with Chrome as its default browser.

There's also a big camera improvement, a whole host of browser tweaks and some clever voice recognition upgrades... in short, a lot of worthwhile reasons to check out the first Android Jelly Bean device.

Google Nexus 7 dimensions and specs

The Nexus 7 is 198.5 x 120 x 10.45mm. It's considerably lighter than an iPad, and lighter even than a Kindle Fire: at just 340g, the Nexus 7 is the weight of a fairly slim book.

The Nexus 7 display is a seven-inch, 1280x800 IPS display, and you can choose between 8GB and 16GB versions.

There's integrated Wi-Fi but no 3G or 4G, a front-facing camera and a 4,325mAh battery that Google says is good for 8 hours of "active use".

There's also no microSD card slot, so you're limited massively if you're one of those that loves HD movies.

The Nexus 7 tablet includes a microphone, Bluetooth, NFC for Android Beam, an accelerometer, magnetometer, GPS and gyroscope, and the built-in Wi-Fi supports 802.11b, g and n.

Google Nexus 7: media marvel

While the Nexus 7 does apps, of course, the whole thrust of Google's keynote was media consumption: look at the books! Look at the games! Look at the videos! That's the marketing message here and it's clear that this is a massive weapon in Google's attempt to topple the Kindle Fire.

And of course, no keynote is complete without a sly dig at Google's biggest competitor at the moment:

"With the Music Manager, you can easily import your entire iTunes music library* into Google Play", Google says. That asterisk means that it doesn't do DRM, and you're limited to 20,000 songs.