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iPhone Lost Prototype Tale Gets A Little Weirder

By Matt Jones

The next generation of iPhone that by hook or by crook disappeared in the Bay Area bar before finally resurfacing in a gizmodo.com story is now heading back to Apple.

How this device went missing will certainly take some time to get answered. How does an apple insider come to misplace or loose a device? Drinking... really?

According to the Gizomodo article, Gray Powell who is an engineer at Apple spent some time in beer garden in Redwood. After a few beverages, he left the California water hole and forgot to bring the device with him.

After discovering the device, the patron at the California watering hole did not return it but rather took it home. They apparently had ever intention of returning it and even managed to locate the Apple Engineer's Facebook page. However, because of the delay, the phone was wiped clean, a feature that MobileMe offers in case of phone theft of loss.

The story outlines the details of Powell, including both photos and biographical information. This information was apparently taken from both Facebook and Flickr pages. The one thing that it didn't mention is that the finder was paid $5k for finding it. That bit of information was reported by both the Times and the AP.

Apple of course instantly requested that the phone be returned and this request was eventually met. One has to wonder however, how a company which has been so secretive about new technology could be allowing for employees to be wandering around with such a device outside of secured zones.

Apple developers in the past have been seen around town sporting new software versions on their iPhones. However, because these phones were using newer software and not showcasing new hardware mere password protection would make them secure. Discovering one of these phones in a bar would not stir too much debate.

In contrast, the iPad was stored in a blacked out room and had to be tethered to a stationary object. It was going nowhere. Developers who were okd to work on this device labored under extremely secure conditions.

Regardless of what goes on there are things that are going to happen and there are mistakes that are going to be made. Whether this was an actual version or just a decoy is yet to be seen.

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