The Tablet Olympics Coming to an Office Near You

On the eve of the world's biggest display of nationalistic pride, a study finds that owning a tablet or e-reader has become as American as apple pie.

According to a Jan. 16 report published by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, more than half of American adults now own a tablet or e-reader.

The 2013 holiday season tipped the scales; over the holiday, the rate of tablet ownership climbed to 42 percent of American adults, according to the study, up eight percentage points from September.

To put these numbers in context, only 24 percent of adults owned a tablet for the 2012 London Games.

For the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Comcast and NBCUniversal are rolling out several new features and technologies to make watching content on the tablet easier than ever before.

"As tablets and mobile consumption was becoming more mainstream during the 2012 London Olympics, we responded by offering customers more ways to watch than ever," said Matt Strauss, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Video Services, Comcast Cable. "For Sochi, we’re upping the ante."

The authentication process has been streamlined as well. For Sochi, Comcast will deliver immediate credentials to Xfinity TV Digital Starter and above customers, making it easier than ever to activate the second screen experience.

"We know that many of our customers will want to watch Olympic content at home for Sochi," said Strauss. "But we also know that a lot of the viewing will happen on the go, and we know from our London findings that a lot of the viewing occurred at work ... So we’re going to keep raising the bar and give customers more ways to watch on mobile devices and computers."

Extra reading: Sochi Winter Olympics Showcase TV Move To Tablets