In the U.S., as recently as last summer, tablet and eReader owners tended to be male and on the younger side. But according to Nielsen’s (http://www.nielsen.com) latest, quarterly survey of mobile connected device owners, this is no longer the case.

Back in the third quarter of 2010 (Q3 2010), for example, 62% of tablet owners were under the age of 34 and only 10% were over the age of 55. By Q2 2011, only 46% of tablet owners were under the age of 34 and the percentage of those over 55 had increased to 19%.

Looking at the data by gender underlines key changes in the eReader category. Sixty-one percent of all eReader owners are now female, compared to a mere 46% in Q3 2010. (Smartphone owners are now evenly split between male and female and tablets remain primarily male.)