More than 20 million people in the UK will use a tablet at least once per month, up 39 per cent over 2012's 14.1 million users, according to figures from eMarketer.

The study claims that this includes people of all ages who use tablet devices - not just tablet owners. Apparenly we share and enjoy the gizmos among family members and there are a larger number of tablet users than owners. The study predicts that by 2017 just over half of the overall UK population and about two-thirds of internet users will have access to tablets.

Global sales of tablet computers surged by 142.4 percent in the first quarter of 2013 as more and more consumers chose small-screen devices over PCs, other research figures show. Of course there are some, like the head of Blackberry who claim that tablets will have started to die off by then.