Ruling Overrules Allegations of Misleading Information By Apple

Apple Inc has won a case in the United Kingdom, over supposedly advertisements that claimed to have misled the public.

The complaint was raised by an undisclosed individual, who was an iPhone owner, who had alleged that, an online Vodafone, ad posted in October,  for the iPhone 4S, was devised by Vodafone, but the carrier directed the ASA to Apple as the source of the misleading text.

The text read, “Simply ask Siri to help you send messages, set reminders or search for information, the ad read.”It can even use information from your iPhone — such as your location, contacts and contact relationships — to provide intelligent, personal assistance.”

Siri, voice-recognizing virtual assistant on the iPhone 4S, directs and assists users in the US, to addresses they ask for, provides routes and gives regular traffic updates, of clear roads, traffic jams and weather reports. This facility is however, currently not available to users in the United Kingdom. Apple has said, that we “Never said that we would provide these features to our users in the UK”.

Apple was accused of being deceptive and imparting false information as the ad failed to mention that the location functions, worked only within the US and not in the UK.

However, the UK Advertising Standards Agency has ruled in defense of Apple. The ruling reflects, that whilst it is true, that Siri is not able to “provide directions, traffic updates, or suggestions for local businesses in the UK”, the idea that it would guide people in UK, was not implicit or implied. It was something that the “average customer would not expect,” the ruling concluded.

The ASA also remarked that there was a postscript on the advert that declared “Siri may not be available in all languages or in all areas, and features may vary by area”.

With Apple announcing a media event later this week, where they are expected to announce the release of iPad 3, with Siri, it is expected that the UK version of Siri may contain the features that are available to consumers in the United States of America.