Did Best Buy pull the PlayBook or did it sell out? (Digital Trends)

Things are not looking up for the PlayBook. Research in Motion (RIM) has been struggling to sell its debut tablet since the device hit shelves in April. Lately, RIM seems to have gotten desperate, slashing the tablet?s price from $500 to $200, and offering it for free to those who buy its BlackBerry Enterprise Server software. The sales cuts may not have been enough. Electronista ?has cited multiple reports that Best Buy dropped orders for the BlackBerry PlayBook over Thanksgiving weekend and pulled the unit from its listings.

Upon our updated check, the PlayBook does now appear on the Best Buy site, but all models of it are labeled as ?Sold Out Online? and are not available for shipping or in-store pickup, even the refurbished models. This could be due to a sales surge after the price cut, or perhaps the price cut was meant to eliminate the remaining inventory RIM had built up. Reports of canceled orders may have been due to retailers overselling the tablet and RIM deciding not to manufacture additional tablets to satiate demand.?

If you attempted to purchase the PlayBook or experienced any odd behavior from Best Buy or its site in relation to the tablet, let us know below.?

Is this the end of the PlayBook (as in RIM has sold all it will manufacture), or will it return?

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20111128/tc_digitaltrends/didbestbuypulltheplaybookordiditsellout

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Congo opposition to defy meeting ban ahead of vote (AP)

KINSHASA, Congo ? Four bodies were recovered Sunday after clashes in Congo's capital ahead of a critical national poll, a police official said Sunday, as the top opposition leader vowed to hold a public meeting in defiance of a ban imposed after the violence.

The European Union's election observation mission on Sunday criticized police for their actions during Saturday's clashes. Violence erupted at and near Kinshasa's main airport as rival political supporters gathered there to see their candidate before Monday's vote. Main opposition candidate Etienne Tshisekedi later arrived; the president did not pass through as expected.

At the airport, security forces fired tear gas and live ammunition into the burgeoning crowd.

Scuffles erupted on the road to the airport, and two dead bodies were seen on that road. Police inspector general Charles Bisengimana said four bodies were taken to a Kinshasa morgue on Sunday. It was not known if the two men seen on the road were among the four at the morgue.

The EU mission said it "considers the police operation that took place last night at (Kinshasa's) airport against the convoy of a presidential candidate and the arrests that were made as a serious breach of the right to campaign and the principle of equality that should prevail."

Saturday's violence prompted officials to ban political rallies and gatherings before the election.

A defiant Tshisekedi said Sunday that he planned to hold an afternoon public meeting at Kinshasa's Martyrs' Stadium.

"No one can stop me from holding my meeting," he said.

He also said more than 10 people were killed in Saturday's violence and 68 were wounded. He said three of the dead were members of his office and were killed by police, but he did not give details on the other dead or wounded.

Bisengimana, the police inspector, said opposition supporters attacked supporters of the president during Saturday's clashes. He also blamed Tshisekedi for refusing to leave the airport where his supporters had gathered to greet him. Riot police manned the airport late Saturday to prevent Tshisekedi and his convoy from leaving the scene.

The EU mission also said it "regrets that the last days of the electoral campaign were spoiled by many serious incidents and violent clashes which unfortunately cost human lives, especially in Kinshasa. The mission deplores the chaotic and improvised management of the last political meetings by many presidential candidates, by the Kinshasa authorities which restrained freedom of opinion, meetings and demonstrations."

On Sunday, African Union chairman Jean Ping also expressed concerns about the poll.

In a press release issued Sunday, he said he "deplores the violence that took place in Kinshasa (Saturday), which resulted in loss of life, as well as the various other incidents that marred the election campaign."

Human rights groups had expressed fears about an atmosphere of spiraling violence and hate speech ahead of the vote. The outcome of the vote is almost certain to keep President Joseph Kabila in power.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111127/ap_on_re_af/af_congo_election

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