Although Google put the Nexus 7 Tablet up for pre-order both in the US and the UK just hours after officially unveiling it, few of us actually hoped to get the tab before the end of the month. However, it now seems likely that we’ll see the 7-incher start shipping next week, based on a couple of hints picked up by the guys at Phandroid.

First off, you can see on Staples’ official website a very intriguing announcement saying that the tablet “will ship between July 12th and July 17th” and that “expected delivery is 1-3 business days, arriving no earlier than July 13th 2011”.

Ignoring that spelling error which takes us back in time one year, we have no reason to think that Staples, a respected name in the retail industry, is trying to mess with the customers’ minds and announce a shipping date for the Nexus 7 that can’t be put into practice.

Therefore, if Staples will be able to ship the 7-inch tablet next Thursday, it’s safe to assume that the Nexus 7 will start shipping around the same date or even earlier from GameStop and the Google Play Store. Another thing to note regarding Staples’ Nexus 7 listing is that the retail chain is claiming to have only a “limited quantity” of tablets in stock, which doesn’t sound very promising.

The second hint comes from an XDA-Developers’ forum member, going by the nickname of “adiliyo”. He claims to have tried to cancel one of his pre-orders for the Nexus 7 yesterday, and that he received a very interesting reply straight from Google.

According to the e-mail, “at this point it is no longer possible to cancel this preorder” as the “preorder shipment processing on your order has begun, which means that our shipping provider is moving forward with delivery preparation.”

Sure, some of you might say that Google is simply trying to deter customers from cancelling their pre-orders. However, you can easily return your Nexus 7 once received and ask for a refund, which should be issued to you “within 2 weeks”.

That said, we have no reason to think that the “delivery preparation” process has not in fact begun, which means that the brand new Nexus 7 should arrive on some doorsteps in just a few days.

Have you pre-ordered your own Google Nexus 7? Are you excited about the prospect of getting the tablet in no more than a week?