Apple has demanded and received back the secret new iPhone that was accidentally lost by a company engineer at a popular Silicon Valley bar, according to the Website that unveiled details of the device.
The prototype product, which is believed to be one of the first models of the new iPhone expected to be released this summer, caused a storm of interest when Website Gizmodo published detailed photos on Monday after paying $5,000 for the gadget.
Following publication of the photos, Apple sent a brief letter to Gizmodo demanding the return of the device, and the Website promptly agreed to the request.
“Actually we did already give back the phone to Apple,” Gizmodo editor Jason Chen told MSNBC.com on Tuesday. “They claimed it was their property and we gave it back yesterday.” Mr. Chen insisted that the site had not committed any wrongdoing by paying for the device and publishing photos of it, since the phone was lost rather than stolen. He said Gizmodo and the recipient had contacted Apple repeatedly to try and give back the device.
“(It) was not stolen, it was found by a person in the bar,” he said. “At no point was it considered stolen or was there a theft.”
