A recent poll by Harris Interactive shows that the ereader* business is booming.  Last summer, 15% of Americans said they use an electronic reader device such as a Kindle, iPad or Nook to read books while 85% did not. Fast forward seven months, and that number has almost doubled — now almost three in ten U.S. adults (28%) are using one of these devices to read books while 72% are not.

Could the rise of ereaders signal good news for publishers?  Possibly.

Among those who are currently using an eReader, three in ten (29%) say they typically read more than 20 books in an average year, while one in five (21%) say they read between 11 and 20 books and one-quarter (24%) read between 6 and 10 books. So, almost three-quarters of eReader users are reading 6 or more books in an average year. Among those who do not use an eReader, the numbers are reversed as one in five (18%) typically reads no books in an average year, one in five (19%) typically reads between 1 and 2 books and one in five (21%) typically reads between 3 and 5 books. So, three in five non eReader users are reading 5 or fewer books on average in a year.

No Surprise, eReader Use Continues to Grow

*The term ereader is not well defined.  In this article, the term is used broadly to include any device on which books can be read (e.g., Kindle Fire, Nook, iPad, etc.)

Okay, so maybe it’s not an iPad.  But in just a few short months, the Amazon KindleFire has become the top seller in the very crowded tablet market.  Analysts have predicted Amazon has sold between 5 and 6 million Kindle Fire’s since its debut.

Maybe not so surprising is that the Kindle Fire has amassed over 15,000 review on Amazon.com.

Top 5 Best Selling Android Tablets

Tony Bradley at PC World makes a pretty good argument about why the Barnes & Noble Nook isn’t really a threat to the Amazon Kindle Fire.  The devices are largely similar in function; in fact, the Nook actually beats the Kindle Fire according to some critics.

But what the Nook doesn’t have is Amazon: a strong brand with a huge amount of content to offer that Barnes & Noble can’t.

Kindle Fire owners aren’t just buying an Android knock-off tablet. They’re buying an Amazon tablet. With Amazon Prime, and Amazon’s Cloud Music Player, combined with the integration with the Amazon ecosystem in general, the Kindle Fire provides a broad range of capabilities that are uniquely Amazon and set the device apart from Android tablets in general–the Nook Tablet included.

We know the Amazon Kindle Fire isn’t an iPad killer.  But it might be a Nook killer.

Nook Tablet Not Really a Kindle Fire Threat

The new Amazon Kindle Fire is  racking up big sales for Amazon.  And those numbers will get even bigger as Amazon will release a new 7-inch model as well as a 9-inch model of the popular color ereader.

As TabletCrunch reports, Amazon has revised their sales estimates for 2012 from 12.7 million units sold to 14.9 million.

With its easy access to email, the Kindle Fire is a great way to catch up on work emails.  Now there’s an enterprise solution for allowing secure access to corporate email.

Fiberlink, the leader in software-as-a-service solutions for secure mobile device and application management, recently announced the expansion of its MaaS360 platform to include enterprise support for the Amazon Kindle Fire. Powered by the Android operating system, Kindle Fire devices are finding their way into the workplace with employees accessing work email through corporate wireless networks. MaaS360 now enables organizations to confidently adopt personally owned Kindle Fire tablets knowing that sensitive data and network access can be secured.

“Mobile device management solutions that do not support the Kindle Fire are limiting an organization’s ability to embrace a true ‘bring your own device’ strategy that provides choice,” said Brian Christini, senior product manager at Fiberlink. “MaaS360 provides the critical capabilities necessary for IT to say ‘yes’ to employees with the confidence to enforce security policies and manage corporate applications and data on the Kindle Fire.”

Fiberlink Certifies the Amazon Kindle Fire for Use in the Enterprise

Coming as a surprise to no one who is a fan of the new Amazon Kindle Fire, a recent report in Business2Community gives some hints as to the Fire’s soaring sales.  While Amazon has been rather quiet on exact sales, David Mercer tracked sales data for five popular e-readers, including the Amazon Kindle Fire.

The Fire comes in at number one and there isn’t even a distant second.  The other four e-readers sales figures are all clustered at the bottom of the list.

Mercer even took a look at customer feedback for each of the five products he tracked.  There were over 13,000 reviews for the Amazon Kindle Fire.  The next highest amount of feedback was 287 reviews for the Velocity Micro Cruz Reader.

The numbers don’t lie.

Business2Community

If you live near Seattle, you may soon be able to buy a Kindle Fire at an Amazon retail store.  Good eReader is reporting that the retail location could open in the next few months.  Not a mammoth warehouse-style store, the boutique design will focus on Amazon’s line of Kindle ereaders and other high-end items.

via Good eReader

ChangeWave Research conducted a study of 254 Amazon Kindle Fire owners, admittedly a small sample.   But of those surveyed, 54% said they were Very Satisfied and 38% say they are Somewhat Satisfied.

When asked, owners said the feature they liked best about their Kindle Fire was the price (at 59%); the color screen was a distant second at 31%.  Top dislikes include the lack of a volume button and the lack of a camera.