Apple Lost Another iPhone Prototype

There is a scene near the end of the movie The Hunt for Red October where the Russian Ambassador is speaking to his US counterpart and is a bit sheepish to admit that they lost communications with a second submarine.

The bit of dialog from that scene is most fitting for today's bit of news.

Ambassador Andrei Lysenko: There is another matter... one I'm reluctant to...

Dr. Jeffrey Pelt: Please.

Ambassador Andrei Lysenko: One of our submarines, an Alfa, was last reported in the area of the Grand Banks. We have not heard from her for some time.

Dr. Jeffrey Pelt: Andrei... you've lost another submarine?

It seems that Apple may have lost another iPhone prototype. And, yes, it may have been lost in a bar... again.

CNet.com is reporting that an Apple employee may have lost an iPhone prototype at Cava22, a Mexican Bar & Grill restaurant, in San Francisco. Apple contacted San Francisco police after tracking the phone electronically to a house in the cities Bernal Heights district. Police were given permission to search the house by its resident but the phone was not found.

It is believed that the phone was sold on Craiglist for $200.

It is unknown which iPhone model it was nor which version of iOS it was running. Speculation is that the unit was a prototype for the upcoming model that is expected to be released later this year.

The last iPhone prototype lost in a bar ended up being sold to the technology blog site Gizmodo. There are differing versions of the the details but what is known is that Apple pursued legal matters against the Gizmodo editor who purchased the phone. That action led to a police raid at the home of the editor and his personal PC equipment confiscated. Charges against the editor have since been dropped but charges are still pending for the man who sold the phone to the editor.

So far Apple has declined to comment on the matter.

Publicity stunt? I think they're trying to hype up the release of iPhone 5, free advertising on national television.

Could also be a hidden message there warning iPhone owners not to drink too much tequila or they could misplace their iPhone.

If it is a publicity stunt then I would hate to think that somebody at Apple really thought that another lost phone story would be a good idea. Or maybe they were just trying to distract from the stories about Steve Jobs resigning.

See, that is why I stick to iced tea.... I always know where my phone is! :roflmao:

I just can't get my head around someone losing their company's next big release. I mean, if I had a prototype for a new gadget I don't think I'd be taking it into a bar, secondly I'd constantly be making sure I have it on me or in a secure place - just doesn't add up (even more so since they supposedly lost one last time).

Well, this is getting interesting.

When it was first revealed that the San Francisco Police Department was involved, various news outlets contacted them to get a copy of their police report. The SFPD responded by saying that they have no report, were not involved with any such search, and that if the people who went to the home were impersonating SFPD officers then an investigation will need to be done.

Just as quick as that bit of information broke SFPD changed their response to say that SFPD was involved but that they only accompanied Apple security and that it was Apple security who searched the Sergio Calderon's house while SFPD stayed outside. The claim now is that four uniformed SFPD officers accompanied Apple security to the house but that the uniformed officers stayed outside while two people representing Apple entered the house. Because the actual SFPD officers did not actually enter the house then that is why there is no formal report filed by them for the incident. That of course then prompted the questions of why then did the people who did search the house, car, and computers show badges to Calderon, identify themselves as SFPD, and made legal threats against him, in particular the immigration status of Calederon's relatives? Plus, if they weren't SFPD, not too many people would allow some random company representative to freely search their house and computers.

Turns out that one of the people who did enter the house, Anthony Colon, and searched it along with Calderon's car & computer, is an Apple security member but is also a former member of the SFPD. He has since removed his Facebook, Linkedin, and other social media pages. The SFPD has stopped responding to inquiries and is saying that it is up to Calderon to formally request the SFPD start an investigation if he believes that the Apple security falsely represented themselves.

To the casual observer it would appear that Apple did indeed lose another phone, possibly traced it back to a location, sent their security team to the house, at least one member of the team has close connections to the SFPD so he had them ride along in an unofficial manner to make it look legit, and then illegally gave the impression to the home owner that the Apple security team were actually the police (who were standing outside the house) in order to scare the guy into agreeing that his house, car, & possessions could be searched, and now it is hitting the fan.

Last I heard they still haven't gotten the prototype back and the police are still giving out conflicting answers regarding their involvement with it.

If we hear about another lost prototype for the iPhone 6 then I think we'll be able to safely say that losing prototypes is part of their marketing campaigns.

That is the other weird part... nobody has seen or heard about the phone being offered anywhere. By now it should have surfaced somewhere, assuming that the person who ended up with it was able to identify what they really had in their hands.

... and I'll be sticking with my Android (Motorola Droid 2) for while!

I can see Apple letting some of their trusted employees play around with their prototypes in real world situations but after losing the first one you'd think that Apple would have changed their guidelines a bit.

With the recent changes in Apple management it'll be interesting to see if the next iPhone model also happens to get lost in a bar.

Apple seems to have gotten over losing two phones in bars...