A New York man has brought a class-action lawsuit against Apple in California, saying that the company's voice-activated Siri software failed to live up to the expectations created by its adverts.
Court papers released online revealed plaintiff Frank Fazio's complaint that Apple's advertising "conveyed the misleading and deceptive message that the Siri feature... performs useful functions and otherwise works as advertised."
The document goes on to say that Siri failed to help Mr Fazio "make appointments, find restaurants, and even learn the guitar chords to classic rock songs or how to tie a tie," all activities accomplished by Apple iPhone 4S users in TV adverts.
The suit highlights the 33 million sales of the iPhone 4S in the three months following its release last October, which it says were largely based on the TV and other marketing campaigns focusing on Siri.
This success, it alleges, was only possible because Apple did not acknowledge the fact that Siri remains a "beta" (work-in-progress) feature of the iPhone software in its marketing, something the company has since rectified on its website. Siri's beta status was not mentioned in the iOS 5 End User License Agreement at the time of the iPhone 4S's release.
It remains unclear whether other dissatisfied customers have joined Mr Fazio in his David-and-Goliath battle. The relevant section of the court documents states only that the case has been brought "on behalf of himself and all others... who purchased an Apple iPhone 4S."
No comments:
Post a Comment