iPhone 5 Prototype Lost in a Tequila Bar

iPhone 5 Prototype Lost in a Tequila Bar another Apple employee mistakes!

Last year an Apple employee left an iPhone 4 in bar shortly before its release. The device was sold on to Gizmodo prompting Apple to resort to some heavy handed tactics to retrieve the phone. Gizmodo editor Jason Chen, who purchased the device, has only just been acquitted of all charges levelled against him. The effort that Apple went to in order to retrieve the device and bring legal action against those responsible for Gizmodo obtaining it suggest it was a genuine misplacement and not a deliberate publicity stunt by Apple.



Which begs the question of why now, a year later and with the iPhone 5 due for release in a few weeks, Apple would let another pre-release model out of their hands and into the general public. CNET is reporting that an Apple employee appears to have left an iPhone 5 in a tequila bar called Cava 22 in San Francisco. Although there are reports that Apple and the FBI traced the device to an address in Bernal Heights, San Francisco, the phone has not yet been recovered.



It has also not made an appearance on any online tech magazines like Gizmodo. While Gizmodo reportedly paid $5000 for last year's iPhone 4, the misplaced iPhone 5 is rumoured to have been sold on Craigslist for just $200. Surely someone who has just obtained an iPhone 5 would seek to sell it on for more than the eventual cost of  iPhone 5 deals at release, not substantially less.



Information about the iPhone 5 is fairly scant and unconfirmed, but if we start seeing some pictures and more detailed information in the coming days and weeks then perhaps there will be some truth to this story. On the other hand, maybe Apple realised that last year's mishap actually generated some beneficial publicity and have decided to replicate the event without actually letting an iPhone out into the wild.



Police apparently searched the address in Bernal Heights but found nothing, even though the device had been tracked to that location via its GPS. Then, the Apple representatives offered to pay the occupant a large amount of money with no questions asked if he returned the device, at which point he insisted he did not have it. Apple has declined to comment on the incident, and San Francisco Police Department claim that Apple has not filed a police report, leading many people to speculate that the rumours are bogus.


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