Apple’s advertising of its iPad tablet “as an outside computing device” is “unlawful,” according to Scott Cole & Associates, APC, law firm. The firm has already filed a lawsuit against Apple in San Francisco on July 23.

The suit alleges that Apple engaged in a marketing campaign that promised functionality of the iPad outdoors and/or in warm conditions indoors, yet the computer routinely shuts down quickly in such situations.

“Apple claims the iPad can be used in the sun, in your car, and in warm climates up to 95 degrees,” says Scott Cole, the principal attorney for the plaintiffs. But he claims that “numerous reports, going back months now, explain that the device shuts down in temperatures as low as the mid-70s.”

Since launching the iPad in April, Apple has advertised the product as suitable for warm environment use, including as an outdoor e-reader, an over-the-stove cooking aid and a vehicle interactive mapping tool. These are usages that are “unrealistic, if not outright dangerous,” claims Cole. The lawsuit, entitled Baltazar, et al. v. Apple, Inc. (USDC Case # C10-03231EMC), seeks damages and a court order stopping all illegal advertising of the iPad.