iPhone blogger's computer taken by authorities
Last Updated: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 | 12:43 PM ET
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Technology blog Gizmodo posted this photo of a next-generation iPhone prototype found in a California bar. (Gizmodo) A technology blogger in California who posted photos of a misplaced next-generation iPhone has handed his computer, digital camera and mobile phone over to computer-crime investigators.
Jason Chen, an editor at the technology blog Gizmodo, posted photos and video of the iPhone prototype — dubbed the iPhone 4 or 4G — April 19, detailing its new features, including a camera flash and a second camera for video chatting.
The iPhone had been left behind at a bar by an Apple engineer in Redwood City, Calif. An unknown person found it and sold the prototype for $5,000 to Gizmodo.
A special computer-crime task force made up of different law enforcement agencies searched Chen's house and car in Fremont, Calif., on Friday, according to a statement and search warrant documents provided by Gizmondo on Monday.
The warrant said the computer and other devices may have been used to commit a felony. Investigators also seized Chen's credit card bills and copies of his cheques.
Apple spokesperson Steve Dowling declined to comment.
Gawker Media said California's shield law, which protects journalists from having to turn over anonymous sources or unpublished material to law enforcement during a search, should apply to Chen's property.
The phone's authenticity was hotly debated in technology blogs after the Gizmodo post, with some claiming the blog's writers had been duped by a Chinese iPhone knockoff.
However, doubts about the phone's origin all but vanished when the blog posted a letter from Apple asking for the phone's return.
"This letter constitutes a formal request that you return the device to Apple," the letter from Bruce Sewell, the company's general counsel, reads in part.
Chen had arranged to return the phone.
"Now that we definitely know it's not some knockoff, and it really is Apple's, I'm happy to see it returned to its rightful owner," he wrote.
The lost iPhone prototype represents a rare breach in the company's well-known secrecy about its products. The company is known for keeping details about upcoming gadgets under tight wraps until they're revealed with the proper fanfare, usually by CEO Steve Jobs.
With files from The Associated PressShare Tools
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