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Australian government accuses Apple of 'misleading' 4G claims with new iPad

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has announced it will take Apple to court over "misleading" advertisements showing its newest touchscreen tablet runs at 4G speeds in Australia.

Though the new iPad runs at 4G LTE speeds on some carriers in North America, the device is not compatible with Australia's 4G network on the 1800MHz frequency. Because of that, the ACCC seeks "injunctions, pecuniary penalties, corrective advertising and refunds to consumers affected," according to news.com.au.

The ACCC issued an official statement on Tuesday stating that it will make an application in federal court in Melbourne at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday "for alleged contraventions of the Australian Consumer Law."

"The ACCC alleges that Apple's recent promotion of the 'new iPad with WiFi + 4G' is misleading because it represents to Australian consumers that the product 'iPad with WiFi + 4G' can, with a SIM card, connect to a 4G mobile data network in Australia, when this is not the case," the statement reads.

The commission seeks to ensure that consumers "are made aware of the correct technical capabilities" of Apple's new iPad. Australia was one of 10 countries to receive the iPad on its launch day of March 16, joining the U.S., Canada. U.K., France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Sales of the iPad in its first three days of availability in those 10 countries reached a record 3 million units over its launch weekend. That's a tenfold increase over the 300,000 units the first-generation iPad sold on its first day.