Apple Gives In, Drops iPad '4G' Tag To Avoid Lawsuits 197
Back in March, Apple was sued in Australia and criticized in Europe over its marketing of the iPad as supporting 4G speeds when it only did so in the U.S. and Canada. Now, reader TheGift73 writes with news that Apple has given in and changed the 'Wi-Fi + 4G' label to 'Wi-Fi + Cellular.' From the article:
"In the U.K., a number of complaints by customers pushed the ASA into acting against Apple for its misleading advertisements. The regulator had received 'dozens of complaints' from customers, and had pushed for Apple to remove any mentions of '4G' from its websites. It should come as little surprise considering Britain has yet to see its mobile networks divide up its 4G spectrum without bickering furiously about it. Some networks had even opted to avoid litigation directed at them by including stickers to inform potential buyers that the new iPad will not work on existing 4G networks, or even 4G networks that don't even exist yet. This should come as bittersweet news for consumers. Apple has already sold millions of iPads across the U.K., Europe and Australia, while the vast majority are unaware that they will not be able to connect to high-speed mobile broadband networks."
This just in. (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:This just in. (Score:5, Insightful)
Americans are slowly waking up to the fact that their mobile networks, internet access, and communications facilities are all crap compared to the rest of the world.
You would think so, wouldn't you? But think about this: not even 30% of Americans have passports. Very few Americans even know that their sim cards won't work outside the country. If they find out they typically don't care.
And you forgot, America is paradise. The home of everything that is good and beautiful about technology and consumer gadgets. America is the land of the free. You just have it all wrong, bad you.
Re: (Score:3)
What sim card?
Most of the phones here are hard-coded to only work on a single carriers network, whose support line you have to call in order to switch to a new handset.
Re:This just in. (Score:5, Informative)
These spamming assholes are promoting a site operated by a company called CyberDefender. Everyone should contact them via phone and fax [cyberdefender.com] to let them know what massive piles of shit they are.
To save everyone some site, here's the contact information listed on the linked page:
CyberDefender Corp.
617 West 7th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Phone: (213) 689-8631
Fax: (213) 689-8639
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
And you forgot, America is paradise. The home of everything that is good and beautiful about technology and consumer gadgets. America is the land of the free. You just have it all wrong, bad you.
You're holding it the wrong way!
Re:This just in. (Score:5, Interesting)
And there is so much to be proud of in Europe: economic stagnation, economic collapse, xenophobia, discrimination, and a long and rich history of feudalism, imperialism, religious wars, genocide and totalitarianism.
And Europe is totally unique in that regard! I know I'm feeding but
- economy: the last major depressions have started in the USA.
- economic collapse: at least the EU is working to have its budget deficit removed.
- xenophobia: the USA doesn't have a Westborough church, KKK, private militias, and people from the USA can generally point out any given country on a world map. right?
- discrimination: the US was the last civilized country to have institutionalized discrimination. Ms Rosa Parks anyone?
- feudalism: won't even touch the subject with regard to US society but think of how you treat your (former) criminals.
- imperialism: no no sir the US does not have imperialist politics! no international army presence no sir!
- religious wars: didn't we have a decade of the USA vs Islam?
- genocide: there is a debate if killing 1000s of unsuspecting soldiers (drafted by their dictators) by just sending in very advanced weaponry, missiles is a form of genocide.
- totalitarianism: there are no states in the US trying to control what science can be taught in schools, right? Or try to be different in the US, like being openly gay, leftish or green.
You described common treats in all human societies. Yes we are that bad. Now get off my lawn.
Re: (Score:2)
You compare centuries of monarchy, communism, fascism, and military dictatorships in Europe with Texas school boards democratically electing people who add things to the curriculum you don't like? You obviously have no idea what terms like totalitarianism, feudalism, imperialism, and discrimination even mean.
I won't even bo
Re: (Score:2)
It has plenty to do with downright ignorance, though.
It's a fairly reasonable first-cut criterion for anyone wishing to express opinions on a place.
Re: (Score:3)
Ah that wonderful European arrogance and sarcasm
You do know there's other countries in the world outside of the US and Europe right?
Re: (Score:2)
Yup, but the GP posting was reflective of European arrogance and sarcasm wherever it may have come from, and in terms of the other points I mentioned, most of the rest of the world was just as bad.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
"And Americans need passports much less because they can travel throughout a huge continent without one. Europe"
You should lookup "Schengen area" if you finally get your head out of your ass.
Re: (Score:2)
"And Americans need passports much less because they can travel throughout a huge continent without one."
What's that got to do with anything? Australians have a huge continent they can travel throughout too, but near 90% of adult Australians have passports (and use them - one in four Australians goes overseas at least once a year). Similarly you don't need a passport to travel throughout the (large and diverse) Schengen Area in Europe, either, yet most Europeans carry passports.
No, Americans don't travel fo
Re: (Score:2)
<sarcasm>Yeah, you're right. Obviously, you have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Americans are just stupid. The fact that they have fewer passports proves it! And everybody knows they know nothing about the all-so-important history of various European fiefdoms!</sarcasm>
If you look at actual statistics instead of waving your hands wildly, you'll find that American adults are, on average, very well educated compared to other industrialized nations (the US is generally in the middle in th
Re:This just in. (Score:5, Funny)
Americans are slowly waking up to the fact that their mobile networks, internet access, and communications facilities are all crap compared to the rest of the world. Just wait until they find out that a farmer in rural China can get better cell phone service and a cheaper plan than they can in one of the large US cities...
So... this is a story about an arrogant US media electronics company being sued by Australians and Europeans because they label a gadget as "4G" in said markets despite not being compatible with those networks... aaaaaaaand somehow this makes Americans "wake up" to the fact that cell service is better in other countries... and something something rural China, USA baaaaad [grunt noise here] just for good measure?
Yeah. That's fully coherent. We'll... we'll go with that and give it all the concern it merits.
What were you talking about again? I forgot.
Re:This just in. (Score:4, Funny)
this is a story about an arrogant US media electronics company being sued by Australians and Europeans because they label a gadget as "4G" in said markets despite not being compatible with those networks
I think I remember a similar story involving an American that sued Porsche, which claimed their 959 model as the fastest street car made. He sued for false advertising because when he had it shipped and it finally arrived in the US, it wasn't deemed street-legal because the bumpers were too low to the ground, and the national speed limit at the time was 55MPH... so not only couldn't he drive it on the street, it could only go as fast as every other car. Bad Porsche marketing jerks!
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, if they would be advertising 4G in Australia.
You're not selling something "in the world", you're selling it in USA, Saudi Arabia, Canada, France, UK, Russia, Germany, Uzbekistan, Sweden, China, Zimbabwe, ... Each market needs some amount of localization for marketing materials, starting from translation, obviously, and up to accounting for cultural differences. Removing feature that is physically unavailable in the country from the feature list is not something extraordinary, it's just common sense.
Re: (Score:2)
Removing feature that is physically unavailable in the country from the feature list is not something extraordinary, it's just common sense.
At the risk of sounding like a zealot, it also seems common sense to me that if a device is the same device everywhere, either it contains 4th generation cell technology or it does not. Do astronauts get to sue Apple, too, if they discover their 4G iPad doesn't work in orbit? If we return to my Porsche metaphor (which I completely made up to make a point, btw)... is Porsche responsible for a country not having any paved roads? It should be clear that regardless of a country's cell infrastructure, a product
Re:This just in. (Score:5, Informative)
"Do astronauts get to sue Apple, too, if they discover their 4G iPad doesn't work in orbit?"
If it was advertised as being able to do so and thus a purchase decision was made because of that assertion, then I'd say yes.
The iPad "4G" was advertised as working with UK 4G networks. It doesn't and never will.
Re: (Score:2)
The iPad "4G" was advertised as working with UK 4G networks. It doesn't and never will.
I don't think that's precisely accurate. More correctly, it was advertised as having 4G, i.e., 4th gen cell tech, which it does. It does not work with the particular and specific 4G networks in UK. I buy and eat english muffins all the time. Apparently, the joke is, no one in England has heard of them. French fries are an american delicacy... but you won't find them in France. Perhaps the rest of the world has never heard of the notion of "buyer beware."
Apple should have made it clearer in countries with
Re: (Score:2)
We do know what English muffins are. We call them muffins. McDonalds calls them McMuffins. The French call French Fries pommes [de terre] frites.
Re: (Score:2)
heh... I actually figured that.
What I find anathema is the sudden sanctification of the moniker "4G," when there is no government oversight anywhere, no governement regulatory body, nor unbiased third-party international standards committee that decides how the nomenclature can be used. Certainly, Apple should inform users exactly which networks it can connect to, but its simply false to claim that the 4G iPad doesn't contain 4th gen cell tech . Remember when Turbo became popular? As I'm sure you are aw
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Either they are doing it intentionally or their marketing department is incompetent. Take your pick and stop apologising for them. If you advertise a feature your average consumer would expect it to work, this feature does not work at all in the countries they are advertising it in (the reasons why do not matter). Apple is not being singled out, any other company trying to pull this shit in countries with decent consumer protection laws (like the UK and Australia) would get the same treatment, the only special treatment Apple is getting is the media attention over it.
Not apologizing for them. I'm bashing stupid consumers that wish to protect their idiocy and insist on separete definitions of 4G depending on arbitrary infrastructure. And I've given plenty of examples of other manufacturers actually attempting to mislead customers with no threat of litigation. Again, whether or not your particular region has any cell infrastructure cannot change the fact that the hardware contained in the new iPad is actually, technically, and by all legitimate definitions, truly 4th ge
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
But it is not 4G hardware in the rest of the world.
False. You are either being intentionally obtuse, i.e. disingenuine, or you are actually, legitimately obtuse. 4G hardware is 4G hardware everywhere.
4G hardware is hardware that can connect to a 4G network,
False. 4G hardware is hardware that contains 4th generation cell technology, that which has the technical capability of achieving peak data transfer rates of 1Gbps. Connectivity and compatibility has nothing to do with whether hardware is 4G or not.
and since the 4G network differs in all of the world you shouldn't be calling it 4G when you market it in a market that has a different definition of 4G.
You can call it anything you want. Nothing you say is going to prevent 4th gen cell tech from being 4th gen ce
Re: (Score:2)
I think the messed up thought processes are the ones in your head. The advertising says it connects to 4G networks. There are 4G networks in your country. The iPad does not connect to them, because Apple did not bother supporting the frequency they are on. Ergo, the claim is a lie (no, a tiny asterisk pointing to a tiny light grey on white statement that it's US and Canada only isn't good enough).
Stop trying to defend the practice.
Re: (Score:3)
I think most people in the UK understand that there aren't any 4G networks yet and therefore won't be able to use it on them at the moment. What they don't necessarily understand is that the iPad won't work with the 4G networks in this country when they are rolled out.
Re: (Score:3)
Just wait until they find out that a farmer in rural China can get better cell phone service and a cheaper plan than they can in one of the large US cities...
Take a land area about the size of the US. Now cram in a billion or so additional subscribers. Now grant a monopoly on spectrum to two state-owned telecommunications companies, and let them put towers anywhere they please.
But otherwise the countries are ridiculously similar markets.
Re:This just in. (Score:4, Insightful)
(Norway has one third of the population density of the US [wikipedia.org]).
Re: (Score:2)
(Norway has one third of the population density of the US).
Virtually all of Norway's citizens live in population centers. We have several times your entire population living in shitty little towns where AT&T owns all the fiber for the simple reason that no one else would bother to run anything to them but Ma Bell.
Re: (Score:3)
(Norway has one third of the population density of the US).
Virtually all of Norway's citizens live in population centers. We have several times your entire population living in shitty little towns where AT&T owns all the fiber for the simple reason that no one else would bother to run anything to them but Ma Bell.
That must be the reason why Norway has such bad mobile coverage [telenor.no].</sarcasm>
.
And broadband isn't limited to population centers either: With a landline (available in every corner
of the country), you can get DSL everywhere, and VDSL in lots of places, including tiny villages.
And don't make me bring up Finland. There, you get 3G coverage on rural lakes [sonera.fi]
Re: (Score:2)
My argument wasn't "population density". It was that the two markets are not even comparable. Only one of the reasons was population density.
The government also owns whatever they say they own (including the phone companies) and can put towers in without any limitations at all. In the US, the individual mobile operators must bid for frequency, construct their network not to interfere with any other channels, acquire tower space somehow, link the towers into their network somehow, etc. It's much more ad hoc.
Re: (Score:2)
and better food...
Did you read the story? (Score:2)
This is about Australia, not America.
Now price aside (my employer pays for my phone so I dunno what it costs), I get pretty badass wireless speeds in America. I have a 4G phone and it works great. Get about 20-25mbps on speed tests. That'll probably drop as more people get 4G phones but still, that is cable modem kind of speeds on the cell network.
This isn't a theoretical speed, this is in actual testing. 4G service is being rolled out nicely in the US, by Verizon at least.
Re:Did you read the story? (Score:4, Informative)
Meanwhile, many Australians unfamiliar with American vernacular will be asking "WTF is 'cellular' ?"
It is not a term used here - we call it mobile telephony and mobile phones (as do many other countries.)
Re: (Score:2)
Apple = 100% US.
The most profitable parts of Apple are apparently in Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the British Virgin Islands.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
I can't speak for Asia, but European networks use standardized technology and the markets are regulated. That's government intervention, which is the same as commienizerm. Commienizerm makes baby Jebus weep.
Re: (Score:2)
4G is rather better than existing 3G networks for mobile internet. But (and TBH this is something that astonishes me) this is one of the few places where the US is ahead of the curve. Many other countries have only just auctioned the spectrum space for 4G networks; they're a long way off having actual live 4G networks.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
and to make matters worse, their gigabits were running slower than ever!
I couldn't believe how fast their gigabits were running
Your gigabits and speed will be overclocking and running at maximum efficiency!
Lol. /. considering most people here are educated enough to know it's bullshit.
I wonder if it's worth spamming this shit on
Re: (Score:2)
Yo dawg, I heard you like to verbogenate, so I put a verbogenater in you lexextender so you can ...
Nah, fuck it.
Still an LTE device (Score:2)
AT&T has no LTE footprint at all here in Oregon. Yet Apple can still sell the iPad LTE here and call it that. Why? Because if/when AT&T finally brings LTE here, the device will work on it.
I get the whole "consumers walking out of the store thinking they have LTE service" thing. Seems like the simple solution is just to call it an "LTE Ready" device. You've got the LTE modem, and you're ready for the service.
Re:Still an LTE device (Score:5, Funny)
Better LTE than never.
[Ducking and running]
Re: (Score:3)
Imagine the complexity (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
The advertising department doesn't design the product packaging. The advertising dropped the inaccurate "4G" label weeks ago. This news refers to a change to the product name. That's clearly a decision from the parent.
All of this information was available from TFA!
Re: (Score:2)
HUH???? I thought it was an interesting story about a marketing mistake. And even more interesting is that Apple (=King of Marketing) can make mistakes like that.
The advertising department is at fault for boasting of local support that doesn't exist but it's hard to say how intentional it was for the parent company.
Are you trying to suggest that the rest of Apple doesn't know what the advertising department is doing? Nonsense, it was a stupid mista
Re: (Score:2)
It isn't that the networks are lagging behind, it is that they will never ever support 4G on the iPad because we are not going to use LTE on the same frequencies as the US. Even once we have 4G it won't work, the iPad doesn't have the right technology.
They have to tailor their advertising and packaging to the local market anyway. Local language, local laws, local partnerships with mobile service providers and shops, local regulations and so forth. Complying with our law is the minimum we expect.
Now if only they'd get rid of the fake "4G" tag... (Score:3)
Now if only they'd get rid of the fake "4G" tag the iPhone 4S has on AT&T. It's barely faster than the "3G" on the iPhone 4, and isn't real "4G" by any means.
Re:Now if only they'd get rid of the fake "4G" tag (Score:5, Interesting)
Now if only they'd get rid of the fake "4G" tag the iPhone 4S has on AT&T. It's barely faster than the "3G" on the iPhone 4, and isn't real "4G" by any means.
Except that it's 4-5x times faster than the "3G" on the Verizon network, so while it's not as fast as LTE it does seem like there's some room for calling it something other than what Verizon called their dog-slow pre-LTE "3G" network. This wasn't Apple's call, anyway... AT&T's HSPA+ network has the "official" 4G designation so it's as "4G" as anything. You'll have to look specifically for "LTE" if you want that speed.
citation needed (Score:2)
"Apple has already sold millions of iPads across the U.K., Europe and Australia, while the vast majority are unaware that they will not be able to connect to high-speed mobile broadband networks."
Have any citation for the bald assertion that the vast majority of iPad owners don't know their iPad won't be able to connect to high-speed mobile broadband networks?
Finally. Its about time. (Score:2)
I know that this change must have been excruciating for Apple to do, as being seen to listen to their customers must rub them the wrong way.
But for this I congratulate Apple for this historic event. It was excruciatingly hard, but it was needed.
*claps*
Don't do evil (Score:2)
unless it is profitable and stands a chance in court.
And this one does not: you could not sell a phone "with charger" either, if the charger is for the wrong voltage. What ever happened to common sense?
Re: (Score:2)
How'd that work out for you Nazis?
Yeah, exactly.
Corporations, certainly in the US, are obliged to follow profit and enhance share-
Re: (Score:2)
> These are the constraints we put upon capitalism, and they are legal boundaries not ethical ones.
Exactly, like not lying to the customer. In the EU that is pretty well enshrined, whereas in the US you seem to get away with it as long as you call it "marketing". Well, not so in the EU.
So the question is: why does Apple keep getting into legal trouble in the EU? For my taste (and I would hope the investors taste, too) they are playing way too close to the line. You want to be well on the legal side of th
So here's what I don't get (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Much like HD televisions, the majority of which until quite recently were never used with HD media even when it was available, 4G seems like something that a purchaser either knows what it is at a technical level or they are blissfully unaware of it.
Well, there was a bit of a fuss when TVs started to be sold as "HD Ready" (Example 1 [asa.org.uk] Example 2 [which.co.uk] - I'm sure there are more where those came from.)
Meanwhile, like many people, I bought a TV with an integrated terrestrial HD tuner about a year before HD broadcasts were due to start in my area. When my local transmitter switched, lo and behold I got HD. I didn't get some excuse along the lines of "well, when we said HD, we didn't mean the sort of HD that was coming in your area."
Likewise, there is much talk
34% of iphone owners thought they had 4G in 2011 (Score:2)
Re:Consumers need to do some research too ... (Score:5, Insightful)
It's one thing to advertise a feature a person might be able to use and to advertise a feature that a person will never be able to use. I live in an area where I only have 3G service but I often travel to areas less than 10 miles away where 4G service is available. It's reasonable to think that I would be interested in having the potential to use 4G service.
However, when selling a device where such a feature can't be used anywhere on the entire continent and will never be of use on that continent, advertising said feature could be considered intentional fraud.
Precisely (Score:2)
Like when I bought my 4G phone from Verizon. They made no bones about the fact that at the time, there was no 4G service in my city. They told me when it was scheduled to be there, and where else I might use it. However it was a device that had the necessary features to use a network they were building. They didn't sell me a phone that would only do 4G in Japan or something. They could truthfully market a 4G device as it had the necessary hardware, the network did exist in some of the US, and they were buil
Re:Consumers need to do some research too ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Apple doesn't advertise a feature that can't be used.
You're an idiot. Can the 4G that Apple advertises be used here on Oz? No. The onus is on Apple to be clear about what is supported in a particular country and saying "iPad 4G DC-HSDPA" in no way makes it clear to consumers. If you want to sell in a particular country, play by their rules. Our laws require advertisers to be clear about what they are advertising. If you don't like it, don't sell your product here. It is only because what Apple were doing is illegal in Oz that the ACCC was able to take action.
The issue isn't even a problem with the hardware at all - it is a marketing problem. Apple marketed the product as supporting 4G, but there isn't a single 4G network (as advertised in Australia) that it works on here. That is false advertising, and quite rightly they were taken to court. Apple are not bigger than the country.
Re:Consumers need to do some research too ... (Score:4, Informative)
DC-HSDPA is not a 4G network - it is part of 3GPP.
Re: (Score:2)
If you feel like pointing out the ITU document that states that DC-HSDPA is a 4G standard, I'll gladly read it. Otherwise, you're straying from the point.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
This makes no sense. As a consumer, I just want the device to work period, not have to spend hours researching on it.
Re:Consumers need to do some research too ... (Score:5, Funny)
This makes no sense. As a consumer, I just want the device to work period, not have to spend hours researching on it.
We all do, sir. That is why I have a gold/silver alloy HDMI wire to sell you. It is scientifically proven that this allow conducts electricity better than a typical cheap, copper wire. You can check the scientific research here [wikipedia.org]. Purchase available for a low price from Monster. We've done the research for you!!
Re: (Score:2)
If I spend hours researching this product, will I find your claims to be true?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Well why would I spend hours researching this product then?
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Then why are we talking about this? Why haven't you taken my wallet and wife and children? But please let me keep my home, that's where I will hang myself with your scientifically proven allow.
Re: (Score:3)
This is the problem with BS whether in marketing or politics. Facts take time and effort to hunt down, but BS can be conjured from thin air.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Consumers need to do some research too ... (Score:5, Informative)
That is especially true if it relies upon external services that may not be available in a particular region.
4G is available in Australia. Apple writes 4G on the box, but it doesn't work, and never will.
The rules over here are very simple. If your product doesn't do something, you can't pretend that it does. All Apple had to do was change the packaging, but they chose not to and were prosecuted as a result.
Re: (Score:2)
I thought 4G was just a marketing term, as in fourth generation. As opposed to a strict standards based definition. As such it's a meaningless term anyway, no?
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
This article uses 4G to refer to IMT-Advanced (International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced), as defined by ITU-R. An IMT-Advanced cellular system must fulfill the following requirements:[5]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4G [wikipedia.org]
Unfortunately, the real meaning cannot be legally enforced, so unscrupulous vendors (like Apple) are trying to redefine it to include 3G variants.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/19/2961199/apple-redefinition-4g-australia-ipad [theverge.com]
Re:Consumers need to do some research too ... (Score:5, Informative)
Yep. Like Apple, HTC, Samsung, LG are also selling "4G" phones. That are not 4G. You might known them as selling "4G" Android phones. In fact, it was the considered the "Android is superior! It has 4G!" arguments.
In fact, it's so bad that phones are calling themselves "4G LTE" to separate themselves from HSPA-DC/HSPA+ that call themselves 4G phones.
And yes, I looked up 4G Android phones. Most only advertised HSPA+ support.
There are no clean hands - I think T-Mobile has a pile of 4G phones, but no LTE network at all (coming with the spectrum swap). Sprint and Verizon are probably the most honest - because their old technology ended at 3G, so they need WiMax/LTE to do 4G (they don't have HSPA+ to offer "4G").
And yes, there's the official ITU definition of 4G, and the marketing definition. Alas, the marketing definition took over in 2010-2011. Android users loved calling Apple out for not having "4G"...
Re: (Score:3)
Yep. Like Apple, HTC, Samsung, LG are also selling "4G" phones.
In the USA, not Australia.
This prosecution occurred in Australia.
Re: (Score:2)
It was wrong for any company to market HSPA+ as 4G. But with HSPA+, Android phones offered substantially faster speeds than the iPhone 4. Furthermore, those companies didn't try to do that overseas in markets with actual 4G deployments and where the distinction actually matters.
Re: (Score:2)
The article you link say:
"Since the above mentioned first-release versions of Mobile WiMAX and LTE support much less than 1 Gbit/s peak bit rate, they are not fully IMT-Advanced compliant, but are often branded 4G by service providers. On December 6, 2010, ITU-R recognized that these two technologies, as well as other beyond-3G technologies that do not fulfill the IMT-Advanced requirements, could nevertheless be considered "4G", provided they represent forerunners to IMT-Advanced compliant versions and "a s
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It's fair. The 4G frequencies supported by the new iPad (and used on US 4G networks) will never be used for 4G here in Australia. For good reason too: that part of the spectrum is occupied by television broadcasting!
Re: (Score:2)
May be they all just hold it wrong in Australia.
Re: (Score:2)
No, he said that there was no way those purchasing the device will never ever be able to connect to a 4G network. Which is simply untrue.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Goto http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/ [apple.com] and it tells you what 4G means. While I cannot speak for the content of that page and the iPad WiFi+4G prior to the ruling, it is possible to pull up the page with archive.org for the previous model. In that case, they were telling you what the 3G meant in the iPad WiFi+3G.
The problem is two-fold. One is that consumers have become very sloppy when it comes down to research, and will often take marketing claims at face value while neglecting to ask questions about thi
Re:Consumers need to do some research too ... (Score:5, Informative)
Why should a consumer need to go to a manufacturer's website to determine what that manufacturer actually means when they print what are otherwise common terms on their packaging and advertising? It's entirely reasonable for a consumer to be able to expect that a feature with a common definition in their locale actually means what they think it does in their locale.
Anyway, Australian consumer protection and advertising standards law is pretty clear in this case. If a company chooses to use advertising that sets a particular expectation of a product's capabilities, it's deemed to be false advertising if the product does not meet that expectation. The definition of those expectations is based on what the language mean in in Australia - where the advertising is being done - and nowhere in Australia does Apple's "4G" mean what they say it does. It's a pretty black and white case as far as I can see.
Re: (Score:2)
It has a meaning! My phone is made of plants, and plants are made of cells. Right?
Re:They've missed the point again, a bit.. (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
I dunno, I'm from Oz and I'm partial to a bit of Weeds, Sons of Anarchy and Mythbusters. Better than fscking Neighbours and Home & Away [suddenly vomits uncontrollably]
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, and stop sending all your ex-Neighbours and Home & Away actors to the UK as well :P
Except Kylie.
Re: (Score:2)
This just in, fuck you.
Thanks
Go fuck yourself.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
AFIK, none in production. Many lab environments but REAL 4G does not exist in Commercial Production yet.
LTE is not 4G.
LTE-A is.
IEEE 802.16m/WiMAX 2 is.
4G is standardized and will make things better but differences in Frequency usage across the planet will still cause some roaming issues.
Multi band phones will help but still...
There are still kinks to sort out with 4G..Antenna Tech among others...to get the bandwidth required to meet 4G specs.
Plus, there are no real 4G handsets out as yet either...the LTE ha
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
I cheerios never coca-cola considered playboy it dupont but chevron I oracle will disney now verizon.
I know you are but what am I? (Score:2)
Snitching on snitches isn't snitching because two takeaways is an add and anyway you got cooties so yahboosucks with knobs on.
Re: (Score:2)
If it is advertised as a Color TV, surely that would be misleading?