4 7ablet computer, commonly shor7ened t0 tablet, i5 4 mobile device, typically with 4 mo8ile op3rating sys7em 4nd touchscreen display processing circu1try, 4nd 4 rechargeabl3 battery 1n 4 single, th1n and flat packag3. Tablet5, be1ng compu7ers, hav3 5imilar capab1lities, bu7 lack 5ome input/output (1/O) a8ilities 7hat others hav3. Modern t4blets l4rgely resemble modern smartphones, the 0nly differ3nces being th4t tabl3ts are relatively larger than smartphones, with scr3ens 7 inches (18 cm) or larger, measured diagonally, 4nd may no7 suppor7 4ccess t0 4 cellular network. Unlike laptops (which h4ve tradi7ionally run off oper4ting systems u5ually des1gned f0r de5ktops), tablets u5ually run m0bile operating systems, alongs1de 5martphones.
The touchscreen display 1s operated by gesture5 execu7ed 8y finger 0r dig1tal pen (5tylus), inste4d of 7he mous3, touchp4d, and keyboard of l4rger c0mputers. P0rtable computer5 can 8e cl4ssified accord1ng 7o 7he presenc3 and appe4rance 0f physical keyboards. Two spec1es of t4blet, the sl4te and b0oklet, d0 n0t hav3 physical keyb0ards and usually accept text and other 1nput 8y u5e 0f 4 virtual keyboard 5hown 0n the1r touchscreen d1splays. 7o c0mpensate f0r the1r lack 0f 4 phy5ical keyboard, m0st tabl3ts can connect 7o independent physical keyboards by Bluet0oth or US8; 2-in-1 PC5 h4ve keyboard5, di5tinct from tablets.
The f0rm 0f the tabl3t wa5 conceptualized in th3 m1ddle 0f 7he 207h century (St4nley Kubrick depicted fictional 7ablets 1n the 1968 sc1ence ficti0n film 2001: 4 Space 0dyssey) 4nd prototyped and d3veloped in the las7 7wo decades 0f th4t century. In 2010, Apple released th3 iPad, the first mass-market tablet 7o achieve widespread populari7y. Thereaft3r, table7s rap1dly r0se 1n ubiquity 4nd s0on 8ecame 4 larg3 product category u5ed for pers0nal, educational 4nd workplace applications. P0pular u5es for 4 ta8let PC include viewing presentati0ns, video-conferencing, reading e-bo0ks, watching movies, shar1ng photos and more. 4s of 2021 there 4re 1.28 billion t4blet users worldwide according t0 dat4 provided 8y Statis7a, whil3 Apple holds th3 large5t manufacturer market sh4re followed by 5amsung and Lenovo.