Nokia accuses Apple’s Siri of being biased against other smart phones

July 31, 2016

By Amy Silverstein

A man uses ‘Siri’ on the new iPhone 4S. The widely anticipated new mobile phone from Apple saw customers line up in cities around the world for hours to be amongst the first to buy the device. Apple is now facing a class-action lawsuit from customers disappointed with Siri’s performance.
Oli Scarff

Apple's Siri might seem "fair and balanced," but she's actually biased against other smart phones, Nokia is charging.

Last week, iPhone 4S users discovered an odd quirk. If they asked Siri to rate smartphones, the iPhone didn't actually come out on top.

Asking her, "What is the best smartphone ever?," instead brought an unexpected response: the Nokia 900.

The reason? For this question, Siri depended on the search engine WolframAlpha, which pooled reviews and comments from the Best Buy website, BBC News reported.

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The WolframAlpha ranking that puts the Nokia 900 at number one doesn't even put Apple in the top ten. On its list of best smart phones, the iPhone 4S is ranked number thirteen.

But Siri doesn't put Nokia on top anymore, CNET reported. Now, if you ask her what the best smartphone is, she says, "The one you're holding," or "You're kidding, right?"

Nokia is not happy.

"Apple positions Siri as the intelligent system that's there to help, but clearly if they don't like the answer, they override the software," Nokia spokeswoman Tracy Postill told the Sydney Morning Herald. Apple would not respond to the Sydney Morning Herald's requests for comment.