Google's Nexus 9 is now available for pre-order for £319

Set for a November release

Google's Nexus 9 tablet is now up for pre-order, just a day after Apple did the same for its iPad Air 2.

The iPad Air 2 rival, which runs Google's fresh Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system, is available to order now at the Play Store, where it can be purchased in either black or white colour options for either £319 for the 16GB model, or £399 for the 32GB version.

If Google's Play Store promises reflect reality, the Nexus 9 will be shipped to customers within "two to three weeks", although the firm is yet to confirm an exact release date. However, according to a listing at Amazon in the US, the Nexus 9 will hit store shelves on 3 November.

Google hasn't yet started selling the sand-coloured Nexus 9 model, with this listed as "coming soon." A version of the black model with included LTE is also listed as not available yet, although Google has already confirmed its £459 price-tag.

Unveiled the day before Apple announced the iPad Air 2, the Nexus 9 is set to feature a reworked brushed metal design, similar to that seen on the HTC One range of smartphones, and a satchel-friendly 8.9in IPS, 2048x1536 display.

The Nexus 9 is fairly powerful by tablet standards and will run using an Nvidia Tegra K1 2.3GHz processor and feature 2GB of RAM. Other key specifications include a reasonably sized 6700mAh battery Google claims will offer users 9.5 hours use of one charge and 8MP rear camera.

The Nexus 9 is also known to house a number of enterprise-friendly features thanks to the inclusion of Google's latest Android Lollipop operating system.

Android Lollipop, formerly known as Android L, was unveiled by Google in June at the IO conference and is designed to be the firm's most enterprise-friendly mobile OS to date.

Lollipop features a completely reimagined Material design that works to make the OS simpler to use. It does this by creating a 'flatter' user interface more akin to that seen on iOS than past Android versions.

The OS also features a number of new notification services. Two of the most interesting are a new heads-up form of notification designed to let users know something has urgently come in without interrupting what they are doing, and instant access to notifications from the lock screen.

Adding to the Nexus 9's business appeal, Google has designed a keyboard folio that attaches magnetically to the tablet.

Kicking off Nexus 9 pre-orders just a day after the iPad Air 2, Google is undeniably looking to lure buyers away from the latest Apple tablet, which starts at £80 more than its latest offering.