Image source: Today's iPhone
BY: EVAN THOMAS
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For the second year in a row, technology giant Apple has lost an iPhone. CNET broke the news yesterday that a prototype of the iPhone 5 went missing at a San Francisco bar in late July.
CNET cites an anonymous source who says Apple went straight to the police, but didn’t fill out any paperwork.
“Apple representatives contacted San Francisco police, saying the device was priceless and the company was desperate to secure its safe return, the source said.”
The slip is-- predictably-- generating a lot of media buzz. Melissa Lee with CNBC says this second consecutive loss seems a little suspect.
“Maybe the company does this on purpose. I hate to be the conspiracy theorist here, but I love to play that role occasionally. You’ve got to wonder, if it happens two times in a row. And we are talking about it, not that Apple needs us to talk about the iPhone. But it is, once again, an opportunity to bring this up.”
But according to Mike Webb at MacPost, Apple has reason to be genuinely concerned for its prototype.
“Last Year, iPhone 4 prototype was reportedly sold to Gizmodo for $5K. If landed in wrong hands, the leak of a strategic product could cost Apple millions of dollars.”
Computerworld blogger Jonny Evans says with the release of the iPhone 5 already in the works, this isn’t as big a loss as it seems.
“Even if the iPhone 5 loss story were true, there's precious little time to make anything from its secrets -- Apple will tell us everything pretty soon.”
The International Business Times agrees. The blog says this sort of field testing may mean the release date for the new phone is closer than expected.
“...if the iPhone 5 prototype has been given a trial run then surely the release date is round the corner, possibly in weeks. Rumors suggest that the phone might be launched either in September or October.”
Apple recovered its iPhone 4 prototype last year after Gizmodo ran its exclusive coverage. So far, though, the iPhone 5 has yet to surface anywhere.
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