Tablet use ‘taking over from PCs’

A growing number of people may look to use ink supplies to print documents directly from a tablet PC, as the items are said to be displacing PCs in many homes.

This is according to a survey by Forrester Research, which found 35 per cent of tablet owners in the US said they are using their laptop less frequently since purchasing their mobile device.

The rise of this category is also displacing other single-function gadgets, with 45 per cent of respondents who own tablets saying they now have no plans to buy an e-reader as well.

However, the research found tablets are having less of an impact on the amount of time households spend watching TV.

Although 88 per cent of tablet owners use their device in the living room, only 12 per cent said they watch less TV as a result, with 85 per cent stating they interact with both devices at the same time.

Nearly one in five people (18 per cent) have also linked their tablet directly to their TV screen though HDMI or VGA connections, which are available to owners of second and third-generation iPads and many Android devices.

Analyst at Forrester Sarah Rotman Epps stated in a blog post: "As much as Samsung and others have promoted 'Smart TVs', the reality is that consumers with tablets think their tablets are even smarter and at least some of the time prefer to watch the content from their small device on the big screen."

It was suggested the 'big five' tech firms – Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft – are likely to focus more heavily on the connection between tablets and TVs as they have the potential to take advantage of this.

Forrester's research also revealed 79 per cent of adults use their tablet devices in their bedroom and 53 per cent interact with the gadget in the kitchen.