A 12-year-old boy was bit stunned when a demo iPhone handset located at a Coventry Tesco store told him to "Shut the f**k up, you ugly t**t." according to a report coming from The Sun UK.
When Charlie Le Quesne asked Siri: "How many people are there in the world?" Apple's voice-activated iPhone assistant lost her typically pleasant demeanor and blasted the boy with a few choice expletives.
Charlie's horrified mother Kim said: "The phone was a demo version and was low enough on the shelf for Charlie to have a go with it. He asked it a simple question and we couldn't believe the filth it came out with," wrote The Sun UK.
"I thought I must be hearing things. So we asked again and the same four-letter stuff blared out.
"I asked for the manager and after staff heard it they agreed to unplug it."
While the ordeal might sound difficult to believe, apologetic Tesco employees took responsibility for the incident, telling the boys mother that "pranksters had tampered with the phone's set-up instructions."
Siri will refer to the phone's user name by accessing information stored in its contacts. The pranksters apparently entered the choice seven-word phrase as the user's name on the demo device — allowing Siri to blurt it out when answering the boy's question.
Apple gives users the ability to restrict explicit language in iPhone device settings — Go to Settings > General > Restrictions and turn (on) Siri restrictions. Detailed operating instructions like these can be found in Apple's 260 page iPhone User Guide that anyone can download free from the iTunes Book Store.
Meanwhile, Tesco is reportedly launching an investigation into the Siri fiasco and returning the potty-mouthed iPhone back to Apple for diagnostic tests. I'm not exactly sure what diagnostic testing will accomplish here, but hopefully one bad apple won't spoil the whole effing bunch for the gang at Tesco.
"I couldn't see the funny side." said the boy's 39-year-old mother Kim Le Quesne.
Coventry isn't in London though..
Posted by: Josh | January 03, 2012 at 11:08 AM