Wake-up call for Apple as iPhone fails to sound alarm
And bloggers, Facebook users and Twitter users across Europe and Asia were up in arms about missing flights and arriving late to work, as the alarm built into Apple’s iPhone failed to go off yesterday for a third straight day for some users.
“My iPhone alarm didn’t work again. Time to dig out [the] old school alarm clock,” user sueannlove from Singapore tweeted.
Similar messages were sent by iPhone users in Britain, the Netherlands and numerous other European countries.
In fact, the problem was not limited only to the iPhone. The previously proud owners of other Apple products, such as its iPod music players, also complained of similar problems with their alarms.
“Apple certainly needs to fix it as soon as possible, but I doubt this will impact sales or reflect negatively on Apple itself,” said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi.
Apple was not immediately available for comment in Asia and Europe, but it said on Sunday it was aware of the problem with non-recurring alarms and the iPhone’s alarm would begin functioning normally again yesterday.
Some users reported their alarms had worked properly yesterday.
“This is not a major issue for Apple, but it is sad that they have the same error on vital dates,” said John Strand, founder and chief of Danish telecom’s consultancy Strand Consult.
The iPhone alarm system failed to recognise changes in daylight savings time in 2010, causing some users to sleep in an hour longer, according to media reports.
The last time Apple was embroiled in negative publicity was last July following the launch of the iPhone 4.
Reports about bad reception quickly snowballed, forcing the company to call a news conference to address the issue, dubbed “antennagate.”
However, the publicity had no real impact on Apple’s sales as the firm sold more than 14 million iPhones in July-September quarter.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
