Playing video games is the number one use for tablets such as the iPad, with 84 per cent of owners using it for the purpose - compared to 78 per cent for "searching for information" and 74 per cent for emailing. The data comes from a new Google survey, which puts "reading the news" as the fourth most common activity at 61 per cent, followed by accessing a social network (56%), music and videos (51%), e-books (46%), shopping (42%), and other (19%). The survey was conducted by Google's AdMob subsidiary and polled results from 1400 tablets owners in the US. Other data included in the full report shows that 43 per cent of respondents spend more time on their tablet than with their desktop or laptop PC. A third also spend more time than watching television. A total of 68 per cent of respondents spend at least an hour a day using their tablet, with 82 per cent primarily using it at home - mostly at weekends and in the evening. Over three quarters admitted that their use of desktop or laptop PCs had decreased since obtaining a laptop, with 28 per cent describing the tablet as their primary computer.