The Kindle e-reader was the No.1 technology gift of Christmas 2011, according to new research by YouGov.  Of the 1.3 million e-reader devices purchased in the UK in the run-up to Christmas, 92 per cent were Kindle devices.

E-tailer Amazon recorded strong holiday sales in Q4 2011 thanks to the successful launch of its Kindle Fire product. More than one million Kindle devices were sold each week in December. The e-tailer has stated that the Kindle Fire reached No. 1 in its sales listing for the US.

On September 28th last, Amazon's chairman and CEO Jeff Bezos (pictured above) unveiled the Kindle Fire to the world and gave a demo of the unique device to a captivated audience. 

Designed to locate digital media for its owner to read, watch, play, browse and play, the Kindle Fire hand held device makes digital reading of books, newspapers, magazines, films, television shows, music, apps, the Internet possible.

The digital book reader is about the size of a large paperback; many consumers says they prefer it to the iPad for reading over long periods. It is very manageable for reading by holding the device in one hand and using your thumb to flick through pages.

Amazon now sells more ebooks than paperbacks; ebooks are available to consumers around one year ahead of paperbacks. Amazon.com's Kindle owners' lending library offers customers the option of borrowing one book a month for free through the Amazon Prime membership, which costs $79 per year. The books available to customers come from a range of publishers under a variety of terms, said Amazon. 

Publishers must have prior approval of the books' authors to place books online in this way. With products such as the Kindle Fire moving readers away from printed formats, all the predictions are that January will be a bumper month for digital book sales following the high volume of sales of Kindle products sold in Q4 2011.

Profitero's price comparison on Kindle products