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Apple's Siri tells users Nokia Lumia 900 is 'best smartphone ever'

When asked to find the "best smartphone ever," the Siri personal assistant software on the iPhone 4S will tell users to check out the competing Lumia 900 smartphone made by Nokia.

The issue, highlighted by The Next Web, stems from the fact that, when provided with the question, Siri returns results from WolframAlpha. Searching the same query, "What is the best smartphone ever?," directly from the service's website returns the same result.

The Nokia Lumia 900 4G from AT&T, with a cyan exterior, is recommended by WolframAlpha based on a total of just four user reviews, with an average score of 5 out of 5. The site offers an extensive list of details on the Windows Phone-based device, including its price, dimensions, features, and comparisons to other smartphones.

In fact, WolframAlpha's full list of mobile phones ranked by customer review doesn't include the iPhone. In addition to three Nokia Lumia handsets, the top 10 user-ranked phones listed includes the discontinued HP Touchpad — which is a tablet, not a phone.

Apple's lack of involvement in Siri's search results also came to light last November, when the company was criticized for Siri's inability to field requests regarding birth control and abortion clinics. A spokesperson for Apple said the omissions were "not intentional" after the ACLU took issue with the fact that Siri could answer questions about where to have sex or find a local escort service, but referred users seeking information about abortion to pregnancy crisis centers.

"Our customers want to use Siri to find out all types of information, and while it can find a lot, it doesn't always find what you want," Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said. "These are not intentional omissions meant to offend anyone, it simply means that as we bring Siri from beta to a final product, we find places where we can do better and we will in the coming weeks."

Apple's official website continues to advertise Siri as a "beta" service, and it is currently only available on the iPhone 4S.