APPLE has announced it will offer a refund to Australians who believe they were misled by claims its latest iPad is capable of connecting to the next generation 4G network.
Apple's new iPad, launched on March 16, is advertised on its website as an "iPad with WiFi + 4G,'' though the tablet cannot access Australia's existing 4G network that uses the 1800MHz frequency.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has taken Federal Court action against Apple for what it says are misleading claims about the connectivity speed of the latest iPad.
Apple's barrister Paul Anastassiou told the court there were networks in Australia that were equivalent to overseas 4G networks.
He said by international standards Australia's 3G networks are actually 4G and that they should not be bound by Telstra's definition.
But he said the company was prepared to email customers to say the device was not compatible with the Telstra 4G network.
Mr Anastassiou also said the company was willing to offer a refund to any customer who believed they had been misled by references to 4G.
ACCC barrister Colin Golvan SC said the tech giant was warned by the consumer watchdog before the device went on sale that it's advertising was misleading but went ahead anyway.
Mr Golvan told the Federal Court that Telstra is the only network offering LTE 4G in Australia and the new Apple iPad is not compatible.
"Apple doesn't have an iPad that would meet consumer requests for an iPad that would use a SIM card to connect to a 4G network," Mr Golvan said.
"They knew it wouldn't connect."
Justice Mordy Bromberg heard the ACCC and Apple tried to reach a compromise but couldn't agree on how information should be conveyed to consumers.
Mr Anastassiou said Apple was prepared to say that the iPad 3 is not compatible with Telstra 4G but does not want to say it will not work on ultra fast mobile networks.
The case before Justice Mordy Bromberg will resume in the Federal Court in Melbourne after 12pm (AEDT).
heraldsun.com.au 28 Mar 2012
Another case of false information given by Apple to consumers, this time caught by the 'authorities'.
Apple currently the world's largest consumer technology manufacturer is fully aware of its fraudulent claims.
Telstra have recently been advertising that its networks are 4G ready in order for consumers to upgrade their 'old' 2G/3G devices to take advantage of the blistering speeds available only with the 4G technology.
Under consumer law, it is stated that the average person has a clear understanding of what the manufacturer is offering for sale.
The average Aussie consumer is by no means required to understand the telcos offerings of 3/3.5/4G technologies from AT&T or Verzion in the United States like Apple want to to believe that this is the reasons why they have stated this.
Plain and simply this is deliberate fraudulent advertising on Apple's behalf in which they got caught out.
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