Kindle Fire getting shoppers hotter than iPad

Amazon's Kindle Fire is exciting slightly more holiday shoppers than Apple's stalwart iPad tablet, according to new research.That's right, slate fans, another data point has been fired across the tablet battlefield. This time it comes from Parks Associates, which surveyed the heads of 2,000 broadband households in the U.S. and found that 51 percent prefer the Kindle Fire over the iPad.Parks found some interesting demographic differences between Kindle Fire and iPad fans. Simply put, those who are more interested in the iPad tend to have higher levels of income and education (we're waiting to hear back from Parks with more on those stats), while Fire fans are more likely to be over 45. When it comes to actually reaching checkout, though, the iPad has a distinct advantage.The survey found that among "holiday shoppers most likely to purchase a tablet by the end of the year, the scales tip heavily in favor of the iPad, at 62 percent, versus only 38 percent choosing the Kindle Fire."This particular finding seems to square with another report published this week that found 65 percent of future tablet buyers plan to buy an iPad.In other words, while the Kindle Fire might not be the full-blown iPad killer some had suspected, it certainly has our attention.In the American Civil War it was the Battle of Antietam, and when we look back on the Tablet Wars--or maybe just a few months from now--we may cite the great Black Friday Battle of 2011 as the moment the tide turned in favor of the North(ernmost-headquartered tablet maker). Or maybe not. Either way, just like the Civil War, the Tablet Wars are likely to stretch on for many more years.