“In a bizarre repeat of a high-profile incident last year, an Apple employee once again appears to have lost an unreleased iPhone in a bar,” Greg Sandoval and Declan McCullagh report for CNET.
“The errant iPhone, which went missing in San Francisco’s Mission district in late July, sparked a scramble by Apple security to recover the device over the next few days, according to a source familiar with the investigation,” Sandoval and McCullagh report. “Last year, an iPhone 4 prototype was bought by a gadget blog that paid $5,000 in cash. This year’s lost phone seems to have taken a more mundane path: it was taken from a Mexican restaurant and bar [San Francisco’s Cava 22, which describes itself as a ‘tequila lounge’] and may have been sold on Craigslist for $200.”
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Sandoval and McCullagh report, “Still unclear are details about the device, what version of the iOS operating system it was running, and what it looks like.”
More details in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Here we go again!
Apple engineers really need to stop using iPhone prototypes as pick up, er… conversation starters in bars. 😉 Or strap them to their arms at least.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Zulkifli M.” for the heads up.]
It’s deja vu all over again
It’s deja vu all over again.
It’s deja vu all over again.
It’s deja vu all over again.
Stop it !
Kill joy…
Oh, relax!
Let’s make it a tradition…
It’s the iPhone bar mitzvah coming out ceremony.
Bay Area bars can “lobby” Apple for the honor (and publicity) of being the place where the year’s new iPhone gets lost.
Ballmer’s left nut:
Wednesday, August 24, 2011 – 11:59 pm
So I take it that Jobs has resigned as CEO of Apple to take up the reins of running things back in Syria as its next dictator after Assad.
I wonder if that is actually what apple is trying to do. If not, they need to fire some people…
It’s a new tv show.
“Diners, Drive-ins and Places where iPhone prototypes were lost”
Somebody at Apple must be bar-hopping mad.
Business Insider recently reported that carrier execs were testing in the wild. May not have been an Apple employee who lost this one.
Again.. They should put a tracking device on the prototype so that when it’s lost, they have little trouble finding it.
Yeah, it’s called find my iPhone
Lol – so the APP – Find My iPhone doesn’t work!
In the article it says that they used Find My iPhone and tracked it to a house, questioned the owner, then searched the house without finding it, then quit. Or so it seems.
Well, so much for the well run ship of AAPL! I can’t imagine the “Evil Empire” or Mister Softy being this stupid and careless. AGAIN!!! Talk about image? Yeah, I don’t think this is a PR stunt. Being laughed at by everyone (except fanboys) is not what AAPL is looking for.
Chains… Those iPhones must be chained to those testers, so that they can’t leave those anywhere or super glue could do it. Titching is maybe too harsh, but they could try that too?
I’m sorry, but the CNET story reads more like a tabloid than anything else. It’s all based off of one anonymous source.
You’re going to need some real evidence before I believe this crap. Until then, it’s a non-story, even if it does happen to be true.
This all (supposedly) happened over a month ago. With no evidence, and no real information gleaned about the next iPhone, the whole story just seems retarded. What’s the point?
They should make this a yearly game. Every year, they should loose a prototype in a bar. Whoever finds it first gets to experience its features before the release date lol
It’s apple’s version of “where’s waldo?”
“Again.. They should put a tracking device on the prototype so that when it’s lost, they have little trouble finding it.”
…there’s an app for that…
this guy is really really pissed at that:
I love those re-makes! I’ve wasted my share of time watching most of those some are pretty good.
I’ve seen a few of these Hitler takes but this is by far the very, very best. Brilliant!!!
BTW, maybe Apple should restrict their employees to testing iPhone at Starbucks rather than at places serving alcohol. Just an idea.
Hilarious. Perfect analogy.
Ok. I watched it. It was funny. I had to watch it all the way through.
Thanks for the laugh!
Ha ha! Brilliant! Best one I’ve seen in a while!
“Another ‘derelict’ ship? — I only believe you because I doubt you’d repeat yourself so soon.”
I’m thinking this might just be a marketing stunt. It sure got them a lot of free publicity last time.
Yes, and for TomCatMac to prepare all that is such a short time – interesting point.
The Kraken feeds tonight…
What’s even more unbelievable is that someone would sell it on Craigslist after all the publicity that accompanied the Gizmodo iPhone last year. Now if this looks just like an iPhone 4 then maybe no one knew it was a prototype.
Non-geeks (i.e. most of the public) would have been totally unaware of the Gizmodo incident.
How difficult can it be to hold onto a prototype iPhone? Who are these morons?
Barzarro!
Find My IPhone just isn’t that accurate. Looking at mine right now- apparently my phone is next door at the neighbor’s.
Of course, I’m typing on it right now…
That baby is on its way to Seoul, Korea as we speak now.
Drink and using an iPhone prototype do not mix. Beside what the every happen to find my iPhone app, couldn’t the Apple Police track it down and retrieve it back by force.
It sounds like the “engineers” are getting MORE than just alcohol- maybe a Mickey with it. Steve better have the next prototype iPhone with a built in breathalyzer and those test strips for the surprise sleeper. Otherwise, Apple security is going to expand with some satellite offices.
The story doesn’t sound legit at all. No police report? Guy allows police to search house without a warrant? Source can’t describe iPhone but knows it was sold on Craigslist for $200? All this happened a month ago, but nobody had done anything with the iPhone?
Oh, and the correct word to use is “stolen” not “lost”.
An iPhone walks into a bar and …
It’s become a new meme for jokes.
This is like half a block from my old SF apartment. Next to the Make Out Bar. Oh the humanity! Maybe these phones need to be tethered, with a heavy chrome chain.
Fake. ;P
Finally someone sees it. This is one of the biggest ways to reach people and create some excitement for the new phone. It costs very little and hundreds will write articles about it along with photos. Wake up people and see it for what it is.
I still maintain the first one was fake, too.
this is just an indirect marketing campaign! Apple does know what it does.
this is just boring!