Report: International criticism prompts Apple to drop '4g' from iPad variant's name

International criticism has forced Apple Inc. to tweak the name of a 4G-compatible variant of its popular iPad tablet, an Apple enthusiast site reported Monday. 9to5mac.com said much of the criticism came from Australia and the United Kingdom regarding Apple's branding of such iPads that can use the 4G-LTE technology. "The new name is simply 'iPad WiFi + Cellular,' and this is a shift from the former 'iPad WiFi + 4G' branding," it said. The site also pointed out that the new iPad name of “iPad WiFi + Cellular” can now be seen across Apple.com, and that the changes were officially made late last week. It added that Apple retail stores have begun changing their signage to the new “WiFi + Cellular” branding. 9to5mac.com said all first-generation iPad and iPad 2 models with 3G-data connections were referred to as “iPad WiFi + 3G,” and that the 3G model of the 16GB iPad 2 that Apple still sells is still called “iPad 2 WiFi + 3G.” However Apple was criticized over the branding of its third-generation iPads as "4G," since 4G LTE only functions in the U.S. and Canada. It also noted the third-generation iPad can still connect to any 3G bands worldwide below the LTE level, yet Apple still formerly advertised 4G capabilities in non-iPad-4G LTE- supported regions. "Apple dropped that marketing weeks ago, but this new iPad name change marks Apple’s full point of not trying to fool customers," 9to5mac.com said. It said Apple made the change not only in Australia and UK but also in the UK, Australia, the U.S., Canada, UAE, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, New Zealand, Malaysia, Ireland, and Hong Kong. The site noted though that Apple Online Store for Australia, where Apple has been taking much of the criticism for branding, had "long" had an explicit message that the iPad "supports very fast cellular networks" but is "not compatible with current Australian 4G LTE networks and WiMAX networks." - AMD, GMA News