Apple investigates iPod batteries

Thanks Zetter!

Apple is investigating allegations that it misled people over the battery life of its iPod digital music player.

Five separate class actions were filed against the company in December 2003. Complaints that the iPod's battery did not last as long as Apple said and degraded over time came to the surface when the latest model went on sale. The iPod has dominated the digital music player market, with over two million of the white gadgets sold worldwide since its release.

'Unfair advertising'

In its quarterly financial report to the US Securities and Exchange, Apple said it had been named in the class action suits and that it would be looking into the claims alleging "misrepresentations by the company relative to iPod battery life". The allegations detailed in the legal action, under the names Chin, Keegan, Hughes, Westly and Craft, include unfair competition and claims of false advertising, fraudulent concealment and breach of warranty, Apple says. The lawsuits say Apple's claims about the built-in battery have violated California's competition laws, and that it has breached the state's Consumer Legal Remedies Act.

News source: BBC