Apple sued over iPhone 3G

Apple has found itself in the firing line – and this time, it's the company's customers that are pointing the gun.

BetaNews reports that a displeased purchaser of Apple's latest 3G iPhone, Jessica Alena Smith, has filed a class action suit in Southern Alabama against the company, alleging that the wunderphone doesn't live up to the "twice as fast for half the price" marketing spiel.

The complaint states, rather strongly, that "the release for consumption of the Defective iPhone 3G was preceded and followed by an aggressive marketing campaign, which included radio, television, and paper advertisements. One could barely turn on the television without hearing that the new iPhone 3G was 'twice as fast for half the price.'" So far, so accurate – well, apart from the whole 'Defective' thing, but we'll assume that's a spot of hyperbole.

Smith purchased said device, and was shocked to discover that the connection to the Internet was, in point of fact, not twice as fast as the original iPhone. While it was lovely and nippy when connected to the 3G network, "the Defective iPhone 3G appeared to connect to the 3G standard and protocol less than 25% of the time."

There has been a lot written on the 'net about the iPhone 3G's seeming inability to keep hold of a decent 3G connection, a problem which the providers are keen to place firmly on Apple's doorstep. Indeed, improvements in the firmware designed to improve said reception are already in the pipeline – a tacit admission that something has gone wrong.

Whether a glitch that prevents it operating at peak efficiency could be described as a 'Defect' – especially a glitch which is being sorted out by Apple engineers even as I write – is something for the courts to decide. Smith is hoping that she – and other members of the class represented by the suit – will be awarded "damages, restitution, and other relief" and that Apple will be made to sort out the connection problems its flagship 'phone seems to be experiencing.

Any 3G owners here who have been disappointed with the performance boost from an original model, or is Smith just out to make a fast buck from a company with famously deep pockets? Share your thoughts over in the forums.

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