Apple runs out of new iPads for Friday delivery

Resellers take advantage of supply shortages, try to sell new tablet on eBay at more than 3X list price

Apple has sold out of initial supplies of the new iPad in every country where it will launch the tablet on Friday, and is now telling buyers that orders will not ship for up to three weeks.

In the U.S. and Canada, all iPad pre-orders placed through Apple's online store will now ship on March 19, three days after the on-sale date. Customers who placed an order very early in the pre-sale process were told they will receive the tablet on Friday, March 16.

Some consumers, including Computerworld staffers who ordered the new iPad last Wednesday, have received emails confirming that their tablets have been shipped.

Australian orders will ship on March 22, while those ordered in other first-wave markets -- France, Japan, Germany, Switzerland and the U.K. -- currently show a shipping delay of two to three weeks.

Hong Kong's online store simply says that the new iPad is currently unavailable.

U.S. carriers AT&T and Verizon, both which will also sell the iPad, are only taking customers' email addresses for later notification when the tablet is available.

The tight supplies and resulting delays were not surprising.

Last year, the Apple iPad 2 sold out on its first day of availability in the U.S., where shipping delays changed several times on opening day, first from two to three business days, then five to seven days, and finally settled on two to three weeks.

Four days later those delays had grown to four to five weeks, a timespan that one analyst called "intense."

Apple acknowledged it could not keep up with demand for the iPad 2.

In an April 2011 conference call with Wall Street analysts, Tim Cook, at the time its chief operations officer, called demand "staggering" and admitted orders were bogged down in the "mother of all backlogs."

Not until the mid-point of 2011's third quarter did Apple claim iPad 2 supplies had matched demand.

More recently, analysts predicted that Apple would face a repeat of the problem, in large part because suppliers of the new model's higher-resolution screen have had difficulty getting high yields from their lines.

Source: Apple earnings reports.

Last week, Richard Shim, a senior analyst with DisplaySearch, said manufacturing the iPad's 2,048-by-1,536 pixel screen was a"challenge" for Sharp, Samsung and LG Display.

The shortages have again created opportunities for resellers who claim they will have the tablet next week.

On eBay, for example, prices for a 16GB Wi-Fi third-generation iPad run as high as $1,200, a 140% markup over that model's list price of $499, while 64GB 4G tablets are priced as high as $2,799, or 238% above the $829 list price.

Apple will begin selling the new iPad in its retail stores, as well as other outlets such as Best Buy and Radio Shack, on Friday, March 16.

President Mutharika to arrest journos who 'insult' him - SO MUCH FOR

Malawian president, Bingu wa Mutharika has through his state house press officer Albert Mungomo, issued a warning to the media and non-governmental organisations that they risk being arrested for continuously insulting and vilifying his governance style.

Mutharika accused certain editors and reporters that are offered money by opposition political party leaders, donors and even civil society organisation leaders to deliberately distort information, insult him to cause panic in this country.

"The state house has yet again noted with grave concern the continuing habit by some civil society organisations and sadly too, media houses to insult the head of state, His Excellency Ngwazi Professor Bingu wa Mutharika," says the statement, issued on 8 March 2012 signed by Mungomo.

MISA-Malawi disturbed

The Malawi chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-Malawi) says it has been disturbed by the statement.

"We are greatly shocked that the highest office of the land could issue such threats to the media as contained in the statement," said Anthony Kasunda, MISA-Malawi chairperson.

He contended that the issues raised in the statement do not in any way warrant such a strong warning of arrest. 

"The media, as far as MISA is concerned is doing a commendable job, otherwise government or indeed the state house should have lodged a complaint with us or indeed the Media Council of Malawi," he challenged.

"We are disturbed and at the moment doing consultations to see how best to respond to the statement," said Kasunda. 

Media practitioners not to feel threatened

He said MISA-Malawi would like to appeal to media practitioners and media houses in the country not to feel intimidated by the threats. 

"As long as the media remains professional, we shall always exercise and enjoy the freedom of expression and media freedom as stipulated in the supreme law of the land, the constitution," he said

Mungomo claims in the statement that deliberate attempts have been made to distort statements and actions by Mutharika with the intention to misinform the nation, thereby stirring unnecessary panic among Malawians and bring anarchy to the country.

"Some print and electronic media houses have found solace in misinforming their audiences on actions and statements by the state president," says Mungomo.

Mungomo says the state house has further observed that certain newspapers refer to the president as the 'big kahuna' or 'moya'. 

Protected by the law of the land

"This is demeaning our own head of state and no sensible and sound journalist would propagate such reportage. This MUST stop forthwith," warns the statement, before citing pieces of legislation earmarked to be used to arrest such 'journalists'.

"The laws of Malawi provide for the total respect and protection of the head of state. Section 3 (2) of the protected Flag, Emblems and Names clearly states that: Any person who does any act or utters any words or publishes any writing calculated to or liable to insult or to show disrespect to or with respect to or with reference to the President...shall be liable to a fine of 1000 pounds and to imprisonment for two (2) years."

Mungomo says Mutharika is therefore protected by that law and that he believes that such insults are a violation of the law that protects him.

The state house has also cited publications which it targets for their misdoing.

It says most recently, the state house noted with dismay and concern a lead story on the front of The Nation newspaper of 2 March 2012, captioned 'Bingu's Sneaky Fuel Strategy'. 

Misleading information

It says the article did not only carry misleading information about facts on the ground, but went a mile further with a cartoon that mentioned the name Mutharika to illustrate a point. 

"We all know that 'Mutharika' is the current head of state and to portray him through such a demeaning cartoon is deliberate provocation and stretching the state president beyond any acceptable limits," says Mungomo.

He further said stories and headlines like 'Bingu gets grilled', 'Government barks at nothing', 'An arrogant Bingu', are nothing but sensational and irresponsible writing that is only designed to provoke certain quarters of the society.

The president has also faulted some social networks which he says carry articles and comments that openly insult and ridicule him. 

"The state house monitors carefully such networks that are hostile and probably careless in demeaning the state president," says the statement before issuing its warning: "The state house wishes therefore to make it blatantly clear that it will not standby and condone this impudence."

The state house also faults some radio stations whose phones in programmes are designed to offer a platform for callers to castigate or insult Mutharika. 

"Anchors of such programmes have often found fun as the head of state is being ridiculed in public. This too is unacceptable and the state house is not amused at all," says Mungomo.

Sensationalism journalism

The statement also goes back to the 20 July 2011 demonstrations that turned ugly and left several innocent people dead and huge property lost through burning and looting were even aggravated by some media houses who intentionally sensationalised their reporting.

"The intention is to create an impression that Malawi is a failed state on governance issues and that the purported situation is worrying Malawians and donors," it says. 

Mungomo then goes on to declare that Mutharika cannot be rated to have poorly governed this country as there is no evidence and basis. 

"It is a pity that some civil society organisations and media houses find demeaning, insulting and accusing the state president as a scoop to merit themselves. It should be obvious that such insults, accusations, derogatory statements and ill comments about our head of state are but a shame in the eyes of the international community," says Mungomo.

He then says that the state house is asking civil society organisations and media houses to stop demeaning the state president and using falsehood as a means of advancing personal agendas. 

"Peddling of falsehood and insulting His Excellency the state president is not the kind of behavior expected of leaders, media houses that pose to be knowledgeable and responsible enough to be at the helm of institutions that are expected to be reputable," he says.

Mungomo says the state house finally wishes to warn in the strongest terms civil society organisations and media houses to stop equating themselves with Mutharika and/or insulting him. 

"His Excellency the state president deserves respect and protection as provided for in the laws of Malawi," he says.

Did Whitney Houston and her daughter share the same drug dealer?!

A shocking news report claims that the late Whitney Houston and her teenage daughter Bobbi Kristina shared the same drug dealer. The Daily Star has reported that mother and daughter were using a man by the name of 'Jay' to purchase drugs right up until the singer's death last month. A family insider allegedly told the publication that the man would deliver marijuana and cocaine to the Houston home in Atlanta, and that Whitney was taking drugs for 'most of the last six months of her life'. "Her regular dealer toward the end was a big, black guy called Jay," a family insider told The Daily Star. "He would call at the house most evenings in the months leading up to Whitney's death. And he earned a fortune from her." The report claims that Whitney never had any interaction with the man and rather had a friend make the deals. "They would hand Jay a brown paper bag crammed with hundreds of dollar bills and Jay would hand back the bag with the top folded down," the insider claims to the British paper. But while the dealings were taking place, the insider alleges that Whitney's 18-year-old daughter was also being given drugs and alcohol by that man, unbeknownst to her mother. "He would give her drink and drugs, usually cannabis," the source told The Daily Star. The new report comes after numerous reports about Bobbi Kristina's past troubles. The teen was admitted to a psychiatric ward in 2008 after she tried to stab her mother during an argument before turning the blade on herself and trying to slit her wrists. She had apparently grown up seeing her mother doing drugs and now her family is concerned that she may follow in the singer's footsteps in the more negative aspects of her life.

Pregnant girls must come back to school

Children who stayed on course were more likely to be employed as adults, less likely to be caught up by crime and were healthier, she said at an education colloquium.

"We need to know what those of us in education can do about pupils falling pregnant," she said.

"We know they they are not falling pregnant due to [a] lack of information. They know about the birds and the bees."

Educationists, academics and a number of civic organisations were at the meeting to discuss ways to stop children from dropping out of school before they finish matric.

Creecy said the situation had vastly improved since 1994 but there were still too many pupils not completing their education.

Schoolgirl pregnancy was a major reason for not finishing school.

Other reasons included domestic responsibilities, boredom and repeated failure.

Colleges to be Upgraded

The nine further education and training (FET) colleges in KwaZulu-Natal are to go from “glorified high schools” without chief financial officers to becoming the tertiary institutions of choice for school-leavers.

This was according to Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande after meeting Education MEC Senzo Mchunu and the councils and management of the province’s FET colleges on Thursday.

The meeting was called to ascertain what would need to be done when they were handed to the national department, following approval of the FET Amendment Bill of 2011.

“We need a new kind of principal – it can’t be business as usual,” Nzimande said.

Department director-general Gwebs Qonde said the plan was not to axe anyone, but to “re-tool” the colleges’ existing heads through training. All 50 colleges in the country would be subjected to individual audits of staff and finances, to start in the next few months.

Nzimande said none of the nine colleges in KZN had chief financial officers, which was a “disaster”, and especially risky since National Student Financial Aid Scheme allocations ran into billions.

The department has approached the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants to recommend retired chartered accountants to temporarily act as financial officers and to establish “proper financial procedures” at the colleges.

Nzimande also intends to address the qualifications of lecturers. Qonde said a large chunk of the investment in the refurbishment of colleges and the building of additional campuses would be directed to KZN, as enrolment demands were higher here.

Joseph Kony 2012: Everything you wanted to know

A video calling for the arrest of Joseph Kony, the fugitive leader of the Lord's Resistance Army militia group in Uganda, swept across the Internet this week, attracting a wave of support on Twitter and Facebook along with a skeptical backlash against a little-known team of filmmakers based in San Diego.

The 30-minute YouTube video was the centrepiece of a campaign that spread on Twitter beginning on Tuesday via hash tags such as #Kony2012 and #stopkony.

By March 9, the YouTube video had been viewed over 40 million times, while Tweets about Kony had become the No 1 trending topic worldwide on Twitter.

In the documentary, a young American boy sums up what his father does for a living: "You stop the bad guys from being mean." Yes, the father says, but who are the bad guys? The child thinks, then offers a guess: "Star Wars people?"

Though half a world away from this preschooler's American upbringing, the truth is far more sinister. The bad guys are Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army, a brutal Central Africa militia that has kidnapped thousands of children and forced them to become sex slaves, fight as child soldiers and kill family members during a 26-year campaign of terror.

The father-son conversation is part of a 30-minute video that has rocketed through cyberspace since its release on YouTube. It was propelled by celebrity tweets and fans on Facebook and Twitter, especially teens and young adults.

The video's premise is that people here in America - and the world beyond - have the power to stop Kony, if only they are willing to spread the word through the power of social media. Called Kony 2012, the goal is to see Kony captured by the end of this year.

The father, Jason Russell, is the co-founder of Invisible Children, an anti-LRA advocacy group, and the film's director. At one point in the film, he asks his son, Gavin, what he thinks should be done about Kony.

"Stop him," Gavin responds.

Then, in one of the video's many slick moments, the boy's words are quickly echoed by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, where Kony is wanted for crimes against humanity. "Stop him," Luis Moreno-Ocampo says on camera, "and (that will) solve all the problems."

Despite an International Criminal Court arrest warrant and the deployment last fall of 100 US Special Forces to four Central African countries to help advise in the fight against Kony, until now, few Americans knew who he was.

To those 99 percent, Russell poses this challenge: Make Kony and his crimes so "famous" that governments view it as imperative that the mission to capture him succeeds.

Celebrities - and teens - have quickly joined the cause.

"Even if its 10 minutes ... Trust me, you NEED to know about this!" tweeted Rhianna.

"This is not a joke. This is serious. TOGETHER we can (hash)MakeAChange and (hash)STOPKRONY -- help another kid in need!" Justin Bieber tweeted.

"Have supported with $'s and voice and will not stop," tweeted Oprah.

Data collected by YouTube show the video is most popular with boys and girls ages 13 to 17, as well as young men ages 18 to 24.

Invisible Children's critics say the San Diego-based group oversimplifies a complex issue. In a rebuttal posted on its website, the group acknowledges the video overlooks many nuances but says it sought to explain the conflict "in an easily understandable format." It called the film a "first entry point."

"It's something we can all agree on regardless of your political background," said Ben Keesey, the group's 28-year-old chief executive officer. "There are few times where problems are black and white. There's lots of complicated stuff in the world, but Joseph Kony and what he's doing is black and white."

The LRA began its attacks in Uganda in the 1980s, when Kony sought to overthrow the government. Since being pushed out of Uganda several years ago, the militia has terrorized villages in Congo, the Central Africa Republic and South Sudan.

"Kony is a monster. He deserves to be prosecuted and hanged," Col Felix Kulayigye, spokesman for Uganda's military, said.

Because of the intensified hunt for Kony, LRA forces - once thousands strong - have diminished in number, splitting into smaller groups that can travel the jungle more easily. Experts estimate the militia now has about 250 fighters.

Attacks continue, with victims mutilated by machetes, their faces slashed into grotesque shapes. Women are raped and killed. Young girls are forced into sexual slavery.

Jolly Okot was abducted in 1986. The then-18-year-old could speak English, so she was valuable to the militants, who also forced her into sex slavery.

Today, Okot is the Uganda country director for Invisible Children. She said the group is helping 800 people affected by LRA violence to attend high school and college. The program has given hope to kids who previously dropped out of school.

"The most exciting thing about this film is that I'm so grateful that the world has been able to pay attention to an issue that has long been neglected," she said. "I think it is an eye-opener and I think this will push for Joseph Kony to be apprehended, and I think justice will get to him."

Moreno-Ocampo said it has been hard to raise public awareness about Kony since issuing the arrest warrant against him in 2005.

"Kony is difficult. He is not killing people in Paris or in New York. Kony is killing people in Central African Republic, no one cares about him," Moreno-Ocampo told the AP. "These young people from California mobilizing this effort is incredible, exactly what we need."

Burst of attention has brought scrutiny

Still, the burst of attention has brought scrutiny, including over the ratio of Invisible Children's spending on aid and its rating by the site Charity Navigator, as well as criticism of a 2008 photo of three members holding guns alongside troops in what is now South Sudan.

In a response posted on the Internet, the group said it spends about 80 percent of its funds on programs that further its mission, 16 percent on administration and about 3 percent on fundraising. The group said its accountability score is low because it has only four independent voting members on its board of directors, but is seeking a fifth.

The group's website http://www.kony2012.com prominently displays the faces of 20 celebrities - from Warren Buffett and Bill O'Reilly to Tim Tebow and Stephen Colbert - asking viewers to click on them to send a message urging support. It also shows 12 politicians from across the ideological spectrum.

In the video, Russell tells of meeting a Ugandan boy named Jacob who watched LRA fighters kill his brother. The American promises the African child he will do whatever he can to help. Nearly a decade later, Jacob is part of Invisible Children's campaign to bring awareness of the atrocities to college campuses in America.

The film opens with Gavin's birth, and Russell's message that in today's interconnected world, "where you live should not determine whether you live." If Gavin, born in American, can have a happy upbringing, Jacob should too.

"At the end of my life I want to say that the world we left behind is one Gavin can be proud of, one that doesn't allow Joseph Konys and child soldiers," Russell says. "A place where children no matter where they live, have a childhood free from fear."

Gavin shakes his blond hair and says: "I'm going to be like you dad. I'm going to come with you to Africa."

Did jealous wife and deputy betray bin Laden? - EXCLUSIVE(MUST READ)

Osama bin Laden spent his last days sidelined by Al-Qaeda and slipping into dementia, possibly betrayed to the Americans by a jealous wife and his own deputy, a Pakistani investigator says.

Retired brigadier Shaukat Qadir says he spent eight months investigating the Al-Qaeda chief's life in Pakistan, using his army connections to visit the villa where he lived and died, and securing access to confidential documents.

He says he spoke to Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agents who interrogated bin Laden's wives and saw their interview transcripts, all thanks to a close relationship with Pakistan's army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani.

He has no evidence, but offers a tantalising image of a frail man resigned to death and betrayed through one of his wives in an Al-Qaeda plot -- which if true would shed new light on the demise of the world's most-wanted man.

"Al-Qaeda decided to retire him in 2003. He was going mentally senile. From 2001, he had some kind of degenerative disease and was coming up with fantasies," Qadir said.

He says his theories are his alone, but admits he may have been manipulated by the army and acknowledges that his account suits the ISI, which is still fending off suspicions of incompetence or complicity in sheltering bin Laden.

Pakistan was humiliated by the covert American operation that killed the Al-Qaeda leader in the early hours of May 2, practically on the doorstep of the country's elite military academy in Abbottabad where he lived for five years.

Bulldozers moved in to demolish the compound under the cover of darkness on February 25, which observers took as a sign that Pakistani authorities want to consign the physical evidence of their embarrassment to oblivion.

Qadir says his investigation took him to the lawless tribal belt on the Afghan border, Al-Qaeda's chief sanctuary for the past 10 years, where he served during his time in the army before his retirement in 1998.

Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian doctor often considered the real brains behind Al-Qaeda, "got fed up and decided to sideline" bin Laden when the leader started losing his mental faculties after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Qadir says bin Laden moved frequently between hiding places in northwest Pakistan before Al-Qaeda decided Abbottabad was the perfect spot and built a home shielded by a towering wall for him, two of his wives and their children.

Bin Laden moved into a bedroom on the third floor with his youngest and reputedly favourite wife, Amal Abdulfattah, the Yemeni he married in 1999 and who gave birth to two children in Abbottabad.

For years, Qadir believes, the family got on well, but things changed in March 2011 when bin Laden's older Saudi wife, Khairia, suddenly turned up for the first time since the family was separated in late 2001.

At that time, she had fled Afghanistan into Iran, rather than into Pakistan with the rest of the family.

Qadir says the Iranians released her in late 2010 and she returned to her husband, but first, spent several months in an Al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan.

Two months after she arrived, the Americans raided the house. Qadir is convinced that Khairia betrayed her husband.

"Everything began to happen when Khairia arrived," he said. "Everybody had a problem with her. Before, the two other wives were living comfortably."

Bin Laden's grown-up son, Khalid, born to another Saudi wife, was also suspicious, Qadir said.

"He kept on asking her 'why have you come? What do you want from him?' She just responded 'I have one more duty to perform for my husband'.

"Khalid told his dad: 'I suspect she's going to betray you.' Bin Laden answered 'so be it'."

Bin Laden tried to persuade the other wives to leave for their own safety, but they refused, Qadir said.

The United States says it was tipped off much earlier by an Al-Qaeda courier. But Qadir contradicts that, stating that Zawahiri may have used Khairia as bait for the Americans.

The Americans managed to intercept one of Khairia's phone calls, leading them to believe bin Laden was in the compound, he thinks, adding that Bin Laden's long-serving Egyptian deputy was consumed by personal ambition.

New iPad to hit stores March 16

Apple unveiled a new iPad on Wednesday with a display that the company said is sharper than the most sophisticated television sets, upping the ante in the competition to deliver digital entertainment on the go.

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What its competitors have to offer: The new iPad, which Apple unveiled March 7, has numerous competitors that beat it in size, price and features.

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 Apple is infamous for the control it exercises over its image — especially its retail stores.

At the media event, Apple executives repeated predictions that the iPad would hasten the end of the reign of personal computers in American homes. But their efforts to improve and tout the iPad’s screen show that the company is becoming a threat to another long-established market: the TV business.

“We are taking it to a whole new level and are redefining the category that Apple created with the original iPad,” said the company’s chief executive, Tim Cook.

Staking a claim to the most lasting of consumer electronics — the television — has been an elusive ambition for many firms, including Apple. Google’s push for an Internet television has fallen flat. Video streaming giant Netflix gave up on its own TV set five years ago. Apple, with a modest offering of a la carte videos, has yet to win over hard-bargaining Hollywood studios or break the grip that cable giants have over the market for on-demand content.

With the new iPad, users would be able to go to network Web sites and watch their favorite shows in high definition for free. Some consumers may be more willing to cut the cord to their cable service.

“It just makes viewing video much better on a device and makes the consumption of media much more personal,” said Ross Rubin, an analyst at NPD Group.

Apple is expected to release its own flat-screen television later this year, analysts say. But for now, it has put out a pretty good mobile alternative in the new iPad. Apple also announced an upgrade to its $99 Apple TV set-up box, which streams content to traditional television sets. That video will be offered in full high definition, Apple said.

Columnist Joshua Topolsky was able to do a ‘hands-on’ with the device at the launch event. He offers his initial impressions of the device:

For starters, the new iPad boasts an absurdly high-resolution screen. The device has a 9.7-inch “Retina Display,” which in iPad terms means 2048 by 1536. Your HDTV has only a 1920-by-1080 resolution. That’s right — it’s got more pixels than your “HD” home theater setup.

As a result, the screen on the device is absolutely stunning. The retooled Apple-developed applications and icons really do pop on this thing. When you are looking at Web pages or books, text looks smooth and clean — it’s almost a bit surreal how clear it is. Think of a glowing piece of paper, and you’re getting there. Games look great, too, though most titles haven’t been updated for the new resolution yet. When I originally saw the iPhone 4 in 2010, I was blown away by its Retina Display, and the new iPad screen had the same effect on me. Basically, there’s no other product like it on the market.

What’s most impressive is that the hardware driving the display doesn’t hesitate at all. I didn’t see any lag or weirdness when zipping around in apps, and new gaming titles like Epic Games’ Infinity Blade: Dungeons looked nearly as good as on a home console.