iPhone 4S problem: Battery, now Siri; some users try DIY fixes
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Apple has confirmed that there are iPhone 4S problems -- battery issues -- and that they will be fixed ... in a few weeks. Now adding to users’ frustration: Siri, the voice assistant feature on the iPhone 4s is reportedly down.
Just a ‘small number of customers’ have complained about the battery life issue, the company says, so they’ll just have to swallow their frustration, find their own fix or stick close to electrical outlets.
A statement from Apple on Wednesday said ‘a few bugs’ had been found that were causing the battery power drain, and ‘we will release a software update to address those in a few weeks.’
Meanwhile, tech websites were reporting an apparent outage of Siri on Thursday. The new voice assistant feature went out about 11 a.m. Pacific time, according to VentureBeat. No word yet on whether that has been fixed.
TechCrunch reports: ‘It looks like Siri is experiencing an extended outage, according to several tipsters, tweets, and our own internal tests.’ The site notes that the feature is a Beta product -- but such a highly touted feature that an extended outage is reason to sit up and take notice.
VentureBeat says Siri is no simple tool: ‘When you ask Siri what the weather is like in Nashville, Tenn., it plays an elaborate game of telephone with a main database that has the information, and then updates you with the answer.’
Anyway, while iPhone 4S users are awaiting their various fixes from Apple, they’re apparently trying the DIY method for the battery issue
TechNewsWorld says ‘one of the minor fixes users have found success with is turning off the feature that automatically adjusts to new time zone.’ The theory is that the iOS 5 GPS feature is constantly trying to fix on the time zone that the user is in, thus sucking battery life.
‘Corrupted contact data’ may be at the root of the problem, says VentureBeat: ‘Clearing the contacts data and re-uploading it has fixed the battery drain problem’ for some.
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-- Amy Hubbard
