Half of all U.S. adults now have a mobile connection to the web through either a smartphone or tablet,, reports the Pew Research Center's (pewresearch.org) Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) in collaboration with The Economist Group.

Nearly a quarter of U.S. adults, 22%, now own a tablet device-double the number from a year earlier, according to the report. Another 3% of adults regularly use a tablet owned by someone else in their home.

Nearly a quarter of those who don't have a tablet, 23%, plan to get one in the next six months. Even more U.S. adults (44%) have smartphones, according to the survey, up from 35% in May 2011.

News remains an important part of what people do on their mobile devices -- 64% of tablet owners and 62% of smartphone owners say they use the devices for news at least weekly, tying news statistically with other popular activities such email and playing games on tablets and behind only email on smartphones (not including talking on the phone). This means fully a third of all U.S. adults now get news on a mobile device at least once a week, notes the Pew Research Center.