2011's hottest gadgets all have one thing in common...

Games. And those hopelessly addictive casual games, at that. According to an end-of-year poll put together by SodaHead, a leading opinion-based web community, the five best gadgets of this year all provide game entertainment. The website's poll of 962 people declared Apple the clear winner, with its iPhone 4S and iPad 2 taking 39 and 25 percent of the vote, respectively.

Of course, it's pretty clear at this point that the iPhone and iPad game scene is thriving, especially when it comes to "free". Following Apple's empire is Amazon's Kindle Fire with 17 percent of the vote, the Nintendo 3DS winning the hearts of 12 percent of voters and the Nook Tablet scoring 7 percent of the vote.

While the 3DS is billed as more of a hardcore mobile gaming device at the moment, Nintendo promises that more casual games are the way. The Nook Tablet and Kindle Fire, however, have made casual games a major pillar of their strategy since day one, with game franchises like Bejeweled, Words With Friends and Angry Birds available on both devices already.

A sample of just under 1,000 might be considered rather small, but we're willing to bet that more than 1,000 folks would generally agree with the results. A look at any of these devices' sales numbers--well, the 3DS's later numbers--can attest to that. As for 2012, you can likely expect our prediction for 2011 ring even truer: Mobile games will burn hotter than ever. Check the infographic in full below.

What do you think was the best gadget of 2011? If you own one of these devices, what's the number one thing you use it for?

Bejeweled is new and improved on iOS, while Blitz goes solo for free

Your second life of destroying shiny gems to techno music is about to enter its next chapter. Social and casual game maker PopCap announced that it has re-released Bejeweled to the App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch in a brand new, much-improved app. This new hotness is said to sport Retina Display graphics, new game modes including Zen Mode from Bejeweled 3 and more.

More like a Diamond Mine mode pulled right from Bejeweled 3 as well, personal leaderboards and support for multiple player profiles and several achievement badges with four levels each (bronze, silver, gold and platinum). However, there is one catch: You're going to have to download the game again for $.99, as this game is officially replacing Bejeweled 2 + Blitz on the App Store. We know, we were shocked too, but who are you kidding? You and I both know you're already in the App Store.

Besides, it's not as if PopCap didn't include two new play modes and high-resolution graphics or anything. As for the Facebook-connected Bejeweled Blitz? It's now a stand-alone freemium game on the App Store, meaning you can play the game for absolutely free, but you have the option to purchase additional power-ups to boost your ranking among friends. (However, we're guessing that this change will introduce the Hearts system to this version of the game, which is a bummer.) In short, it's just like the Facebook game, but in your phone. The future is awesome, we know. Both games are slowly rolling out today.

Are you down with buying another version of Bejeweled for your iOS device, given the new features introduced? Where do you play Bejeweled Blitz more: on your phone or on Facebook?