Apple targeted by lawsuits over Siri and iPad 4G claims

Apple has found itself at the centre of a string of lawsuits across the world, regarding claims it makes over the performance of the new iPad and the Siri technology in the iPhone 4S. Siri, a voice-activated 'virtual assistant' originally provided as an add-on app for all iPhones before being made into an iPhone 4S exclusive, is the most targeted of Apple's recent technologies as gadget-hungry consumers find the reality of the system a far cry from its advertised capabilities. Apple's advertising shows Siri taking on an artificial intelligence-like persona, responding to natural-language commands and queries - "do I need an umbrella", "schedule an appointment with Ted", - with aplomb. Sadly, the reality appears to be somewhat different. Several lawsuits have cropped up since Siri's release as the key selling point of the iPhone 4S smartphone, with VentureBeat reporting that David Jones is the most recent. In his filing, Jones claims that Apple is responsible for the creation of "deceptive commercials" which "diverge greatly from the actual functionality of the Siri feature as experienced." As a result, Jones - who purchased an iPhone 4S largely on the back of Apple's promises for Siri - is asking for a damage payment, both for himself and all other iPhone 4S owners. The suit comes as a third-party survey claimed that a mere 55 per cent of Siri users were happy with the capabilities of the product, which is officially still a beta service - not that Apple mentions that in its advertising. Siri isn't alone in disappointing Apple's customers, however: the new iPad, which features an impressive retina-class display never before seen on a tablet device, is attracting its own complaints thanks to its use of a US-centric 4G mobile broadband system. Fourth-generation - 4G - mobile networks offer significantly improved speeds for internet access, close to those of wired systems like ADSL. However, the UK currently does not have any wide-scale 4G networks - and when networks are launched, the new iPad will be incompatible thanks to differences in frequencies used by US and UK 4G networks. As a result, Tom's Hardware reports that the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is investigating complaints from customers that Apple's claims of a faster internet connection are misleading. At the time of writing, however, it has not launched a formal investigation - and Apple has not indicated it will be offering refunds, as it was recently forced to do in Australia for the same reason.