Sign up for a new account or log in here:
An Apple employee has reportedly lost an iPhone prototype at a bar, marking the second time such an event has occurred. The phone was allegedly taken from Cava 22, a bar in San Francisco’s Mission district, CNET has learned from a source familiar with the investigation.
According to the report, an Apple employee lost the phone late last month which prompted Apple security to launch a full-scale search-and-recover operation over a few days following the incident.
It is believed that the phone was taken from the bar and possibly sold on Craigslist for $200. The source indicates that Apple contacted the San Francisco police, saying the device was priceless and they were desperate to have it returned.
Apple was able to trace the device to a home in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood, but a subsequent search of the residence turned up nothing. A man at the home claimed no knowledge of having the phone, although he was at Cava 22 the night the phone went missing. It is unclear if Apple recovered the prototype nor do we know what version of iOS the device might have been running or even what it looked like.
Apple declined to comment on the incident, the San Francisco Police Department said the company had not filed a police report and Craigslist did not respond to requests for comment, CNET said.
The whole ordeal is eerily similar to what happened in April 2010. An Apple employee lost a prototype iPhone 4 at a Redwood City bar, which was found and sold to gadget blog Gizmodo for $5,000. Prosecutors searched the home of Gizmodo editor Jason Chen and considered prosecuting Gizmodo, but those plans were eventually dropped. Gizmodo has since been banned from all Apple press events.
User Comments: 25
Got something to say? Post a comment-
3DCGMODELER said:
Well thats it.....
The Bars are off limits to all Apple Employee's period....
hehehe
Or have a security Strip search at all entrances and exists..
hahaha
-
Cota said:
i call it Fake and way too burned.
-
Gives a whole new meaning to the question "How many bars?"
-
yes this sounds almost like the last lost one..but no pictures of it
. Yet! -
Good ones, guys. Ha ha.
If the prototype was not stolen, are they allowed to prosecute the finder? This is a free pubicity stunt at tax payers' cost.
-
Guest said:
Good ones, guys. Ha ha.
If the prototype was not stolen, are they allowed to prosecute the finder? This is a free pubicity stunt at tax payers' cost.
Agreed +2
-
WinXPert said:
History repeats itself
-
Does anyone really believe that Apple "accidentally" loses anything? Just good, free publicity.
-
Losing a prototype for publicity, now that's innovative
-
yRaz said:
aj_the_kidd said:Losing a prototype for publicity, now that's innovative
Perhaps they will patient losing prototypes for publicity and then sue other companies that try the same thing?
-
yRaz said:aj_the_kidd said:
Losing a prototype for publicity, now that's innovative
Perhaps they will patient losing prototypes for publicity and then sue other companies that try the same thing?
I think i saw that in a movie :p could have even been "2001: A Space Odyssey"
-
They should give it to the blender guy on Youtube =))
-
publicity stunt
-
And in other news, an Apple employee is reported missing and presumed to have been shot, the second time since just before the release of the iPhone 4.
-
NTAPRO said:
I was thinking it was a publicity stunt as well...
-
supertech said:
yeah, sure, he "lost" it.
-
Mindwraith said:
publicity stunt
+1
Indeed...
-
NTAPRO said:
$200 = priceless...
-
"Apple was able to trace the device to a home in San Francisco?s Bernal Heights neighborhood, but a subsequent search of the residence turned up nothing."
If no police report was filed, who exactly did the tracing and searching? Men in Black (turtlenecks)?
-
stewi0001 said:
Does Homer Simpson work for Apple???
-
I am sure it was an "accident". I mean Apple wouldnt dream of engaging in media hype.......right? Perish the thought. And for them to do it twice??? Oh good gracious no..........they wouldnt stoop that low.....certainly not....
-
This was no accident.
-
This was no accident.
I'd be inclined to agree. It seems an Apple employee always loses a Apple device during prototype stage, for the media to hype up over.
Sounds like a strategic ploy to gain more coverage to me personally.
-
i guess its a marketing strategy to attract clients to their latest product yet to be released. can you imagine having incident of the same brand lost though not on the same place but on a venue where people gather and guess what happen to such place..... LOST ANOTHER PROTOTYPE GADGET... HEEELLLOOWWWW....
-
NTAPRO said:Guest said:
i guess its a marketing strategy to attract clients to their latest product yet to be released. can you imagine having incident of the same brand lost though not on the same place but on a venue where people gather and guess what happen to such place..... LOST ANOTHER PROTOTYPE GADGET... HEEELLLOOWWWW....
That's the word I was looking for: Marketing Strategy
Haha makes a lot of sense.
Most Popular
| Trending | Featured |
Featured on Routers
Subscribe to TechSpot
Get free exclusive content, learn about new features and breaking tech news.