[SINGAPORE] The search for that gadget Holy Grail - the all-in-one device - is decades old. People have never been happy about lugging multiple devices everywhere and keeping them in sync. Tablets are just the latest vehicles in the desire for simplicity.

The difference is that today's tablets have a better chance of reaching that goal than their predecessors - which have included everything from personal digital assistants (remember those?) to portable PCs that were little more than desktop computers with screens and keyboards attached. It's a bit misleading to talk about tablets as a homogenous category. Apple's iPad and Google Android tablets run streamlined tablet operating systems that don't offer full PC capabilities.

Meanwhile, full-feature Windows tablets have been around for years but were hobbled by weight and brief battery life until the recent advent of flash storage and energy-efficient chips.