iPad mini named most in-demand Christmas gift

With only a week left to go until Christmas, the iPad mini has been crowned the most looked-for festive gift of 2012.

That is according to online shopping website PriceGrabber.co.uk, which based its findings on website analytics for 1 December through to 7 December.

It found that the iPad mini was the most in-demand product overall, more so than clothing items, appliances, health and beauty gifts, and children's products.

The iPad mini 16GB white edged out the 16GB black version, which took second place, with third place going to the iPad 2 16 GB black.

The next electronics product came in at number six, and was, perhaps surprisingly, the Asus Eee PC 10.1in Netbook, with the new iPad third generation black in seventh place.

Other popular technology products in the top 20 were the BlackBerry Curve 8900 (11th), the Dell Inspiron 15.6in Notebook (12th), the iPad 2 3G White (14th), the Lumix DMC-TZ30 digital camera (17th) and the iPad Mini 32GB White (19th).

Perhaps surprisingly there were no places in the top 20 for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 or the Google Nexus 7, but these did do well on the US version of the PriceGrabber website.

And while tablets are at the top of the list for many consumers, it may come as a surprise that it is not just young adults that are investing in iPads and laptops.

About 41 per cent of UK adults that are 55 and over have put a tablet, smartphone or laptop on their Christmas list this year, according to an online survey by market research firm YouGov for security company Kaspersky Lab.

The report said that 44 per cent of all UK adults will be asking for a tablet, laptop or smartphone this Christmas.

But it warns that many consumers are still unaware of the potential risks associated with using the technology.

Kaspersky Lab research shows that 16 per cent of laptop owners and 50 per cent of Macbook owners do not bother to protect their device, leaving them vulnerable to cybercriminals who can get hold of users' personal information.

"The whole nation is becoming increasingly reliant on technology. Gone are the days when technology was aimed solely at younger people, it is no longer age dependent," said David Emm, senior security researcher at Kaspersky Lab.

"As more mature consumers open their eyes to what technology has to offer, they need to be aware that times have changed, and issues such as cybercrime and malware are at the forefront of modern internet activity and are developing fast. However, there are simple Internet security measures you can put in place to make technology fun and safe for all ages this Christmas," he added.