Perhaps the next iPhone 4S commercial will feature a disgruntled-looking Brooklyn man saying, “Siri, find me a good lawyer.”
Of course, that’s exactly the type of complex task that the phone’s voice-activated personal assistant completes with aplomb on Apple’s television ads that owners are upset they can’t replicate when they get the device home.
To this end, iPhone 4S owner Frank Fazio filed a lawsuit against Apple last week in the Northern District of California, claiming the company’s commercials are misleading and deceptive in regard to Siri’s capabilities, and that they cause consumers to purchase the product because of this feature.
According to the complaint, “individuals are shown using Siri to make appointments, find restaurants, and even learn the guitar chords to classic rock songs or how to tie a tie. In the commercials, all of these tasks are done with ease with the assistant of the iPhone 4S's Siri feature, a represented functionality contrary to the actual operating results and performance of Siri.”
Fazio, however, says Siri is far less responsive in real life. After he purchased the phone on Nov. 19, 2011, he immediately noticed that Siri didn’t perform as advertised.
“For instance, when [Fazio] asked Siri for directions to a certain place, or to locate a store, Siri either did not understand what [Fazio] was asking, or, after a very long wait time, responded with the wrong answer,” the complaint says.
Apple, which clearly states on its website that Siri was released in Beta, has declined to comment on the pending litigation.
For more, read the Huffington Post and Wall Street Journal.
