1. Tablet PCs are portable personal computers with touch screens that are smaller than notebooks but larger than smartphones. The most common type is the slate style without physical keyboards like the iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab.
2. In 2010, the iPad popularized tablet computers worldwide which fueled growth in the market. Major brands now include Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, and others running operating systems like iOS, Android, and Windows.
3. The iPad and Galaxy Tab are two of the most popular tablet models. They have large screens and can read ebooks and office documents, but differ in design, applications available, camera capabilities, and operating systems.