Gizmodo.com | The New York Times
After paying a Silicon Valley bar patron who found a prototype for Apple’s next iPhone, Gizmodo has disassembled and reviewed the phone on its website. The popular tech site reportedly paid $5,000 for the phone, which was found on a bar stool after having been lost by an Apple employee. The loss is unusual for the security-obsessed Apple and Gizmodo’s handling of the story is drawing criticism both as an example of “checkbook journalism” and for its public outing of the engineer who lost the device.
The phone, which Apple is requesting be returned, apparently has front and rear cameras, a higher resolution color touch-screen than current models, and a ceramic back to provide better reception for the internal WiFi and 3G radios inside. Gizmodo editor-in-chief Brian Lam told The New York Times that the phone “probably” would be returned to Apple.
