• December 29, 2011

Despite the early disappointment of the technorati that Apple’s new iPhone was not the much-rumored “iPhone 5,” consumers didn’t seem to mind the iPhone 4S. According to online teen polling site Sodahead, the 4S was the runaway winner in its Dec. 15 “Best Tech Gadget of 2011” poll of nearly 1,000 onliners. With 39% citing the iPhone 4S as the best gadget of the year, Apple bested its own second place entry the iPad 2 (29%).

With its own reports that it sold millions of Kindles this season, Amazon succeeded in taking some of Apple’s holiday limelight, with 17% of Sodahead users naming the Kindle Fire as their favorite. Nintendo may have the most to celebrate, as its slow-starting 3DS handheld game console polled at 12%, ahead of Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet, a higher-priced rival to the Amazon Fire. --Steve Smith