iPhone 3G owner sues Apple, AT&T over dropped calls, app crashes

Tag : 3G

September 5, 2008 (Computerworld) A New Jersey man has sued Apple Inc. over charges that its iPhone 3G drops calls and doesn't consistently connect to AT&T Inc. 's data network -- the second such federal lawsuit filed in thepast two weeks.
Eulardi Tanseco, who submitted his lawsuit to U.S. District Court in New Jersey last Friday, accused both Apple and AT&T of breakingthat state's consumer antifraud law, as well as violating otherwarranty, breach-of-contract and fraud statutes. Like the lawsuit filed Aug. 19 against Apple by Jessica Smith of Birmingham, Ala., Tanseco's suitasked the court to grant the case class-action status.
"Apple has wrongfully and unfairly deceived its customers byadvertising and selling the alleged newer and improved iPhone 3Gwith the express and implied promise that this consumer product wasa reliable and efficient mobile phone," the lawsuit said.
Tanseco, who said he bought an iPhone 3G the first day it went onsale, was unhappy with the phone's performance. "Almost immediatelyafter purchasing the iPhone 3G, Plaintiff became aware of problemsconnecting and/or maintaining a connection via the 3G protocol withhis new iPhone 3G," the suit continued.
Most of the time, Tanseco said, his iPhone 3G would connect only toAT&T's older, and slower, EDGE data network. And during the fewinstances when he initially had a 3G connection, the iPhone would often shift to EDGE. "Even when Plaintiff was able toconnect via the 3G protocol, on many occasions, even whileremaining comparatively still in the same physical location,Plaintiff's data transmission was dropped from the 3G protocol tothe much slower EDGE protocol," the filing stated.
According to the lawsuit, AT&T was included as a defendant becauseit "failed to advise its customers that the iPhone 3G was notcapable of connecting and/or maintaining a connection with AT&T's3G network to complete data transmission."
Tanseco also accused Apple of duping customers with the App Store,the company's online mart for third-party applications that userscan install on their phones. The apps, said Tanseco, "consistentlycrash."
Prior to Tanseco and Smith suing Apple, iPhone 3G owners hadflooded Apple's support forums with complaints about their phones and AT&T's 3G network. The gripes included difficulty making callsfrom areas supposedly covered by a 3G network, weak signals,dropped calls and slower-than-promised data download speeds.
Tanseco made mention of the last in his lawsuit, echoing similarcharges by Smith. "Apple specifically represented and continues torepresent that the iPhone 3G is 'Twice as fast. Half the price' asits predecessor, the iPhone," said the lawsuit.
Although Apple has released two software updates since the July 11launch of the iPhone 3G, including one on Aug. 18 that the companyclaimed improved 3G communication , Tanseco's suit dismissed both updates for not correcting theproblems he cited.
The newest lawsuit seeks both compensatory and punitive damages, aswell as an injunction that would force Apple to stop selling theiPhone unless it fixes the flaws or modifies its advertising.
Apple must respond to the lawsuit by the end of September,according to other documents filed with the federal court.