By Anhar Khanbhai

When Apple released the iPhone 4S introducing the new personal assistant in the form of Siri, the world went crazy over the idea of being able to shoot commands to their phones and was even referred to as a direct challenge to Google's search engine by the Internet giant's chairman Eric Schmidt.

But it seems Siri impresses not everyone as an iPhone 4S buyer in the US has sued Apple for promising more than it delivered.

A suit filed in a California federal court argued that Apple advertising touting the wonders of Siri amounted to "intentional misrepresentation" and unfair competition, according to documents available online yesterday.

Lawyers representing a New York City man who bought an iPhone 4S want class action status to represent millions of people who bought the latest generation Apple smartphone.

The suit included Apple - which runs showing people asking Siri to help them find restaurants, learn chords to songs, tie neck ties, and even figure out if there is a rodeo in town - had disappointed some users.

Lawyers representing the iPhone 4S buyer, identified as Frank Fazio of Brooklyn, argued that Siri claims were "misleading and deceptive" and are calling for California-based Apple to pay unspecified damages.

"Promptly after the purchase of his iPhone 4S, plaintiff realized that Siri was not performing as advertised," the lawsuit said.

"For instance, when plaintiff asked Siri for directions to a certain place, or to locate a store, Siri either did not understand what plaintiff was asking, or, after a very long wait time, responded with the wrong answer."

The artificial intelligence software was derived from research conducted to make computers more intuitive at understanding and working with soldiers in action.

Siri helps make calls, send text messages or email, schedule meetings and reminders, make notes, find local businesses, and get directions. It will even perform mathematical calculations if asked.

In Japan one video shows Siri struggling on some more-advanced Japanese requests.

The side-by-side comparison features an iPhone 4S with Siri and what appears to be an Android phone running Japanese wireless carrier DoCoMo's voice recognition feature, Syabette Concier.

The video shows Siri's response time being slower than Syabette Concier as well as failing on some more-difficult queries.

Maybe there's a case to be made that Apple shouldn't be pitching the wonders of Siri to consumers whose accents or regional dialects are going to make it difficult for the technology to work for them.

Apple has not commented on pending litigation.