Yesterday CNET reported that an iPhone 5 had been lost in a tequila bar in San Francisco. According to the report, the device was left in the bar by an Apple employee and was later picked up by another customer. Apple tracked the device to an address in Bernal Heights, San Francisco, prompting the San Francisco Police Department to search the address. Nothing was found, and the occupant denied any wrong doing. The device was not there, so the story claims, because it had already been sold on Craigslist for $200.
This event supposedly took place back in July and has only just come to public attention. What is interesting is that at no point in the last month has the device made an appearance. Last year, prior to the launch of the iPhone 4, an Apple employee did indeed leave a prototype handset in a bar. The phone was discovered by some customers who then sold it to Gizmodo’s Jason Chen for a reported $5000. The events from last year bear striking resemblance to the current story.
But now San Francisco Police Department deny any knowledge of the alleged story, and claim that Apple at no point filed a police report regarding a missing phone. Additionally, the phone has not made an appearance on any online tech website and is nowhere to be seen. The misplaced iPhone 4 was quickly photographed and reviewed on Gizmodo shortly after its purchase last year but no such information has emerged regarding the iPhone 5, which still remains shrouded in mystery.
As the sale of the iPhone 4 to Jason Chen demonstrates, there is a lot of money to be made by having a pre-release version of an upcoming iPhone, which makes its sale for just $200 highly suspect. This is far less than the phone will retail for when it is finally released and far less than one would expect to receive for the most talked about gadget on the planet.
The story has certainly created a lot of buzz which may be some explanation as to its origins. Perhaps this is a publicity stunt by Apple to increase interest in the upcoming iPhone, as last year’s iPhone 4 fiasco generated a lot of free advertising for Apple. But then again, if there is one company on the planet that does not need to use such ploys it is Apple, as everyone is already well aware of the iPhone 5.
In all likelihood the story may indeed be a publicity stunt, although not one orchestrated Apple. The bar where the iPhone 4 was misplaced last year was never mentioned and was only a minor detail to the whole story. Yet Cava 22, the tequila bar that is the setting of this latest affair, has been mentioned in virtually every account of the missing iPhone 5. In fact, the owner of the bar is the only person who has been quoted as making any comment on the incident. All other parties allegedly involved, including Apple, the San Francisco Police Department and even Craigslist have denied any knowledge of such events.
[photograph by Prayitno]