Finder of Lost Next-Generation iPhone Identified
Brian J. Hogan, a 21-year-old resident of Redwood City, California, says although he was paid by tech site Gizmodo, he believed the payment was for allowing the site exclusive access to review the phone. Gizmodo emphasized to him "that there was nothing wrong in sharing the phone with the tech press," according to his attorney Jeffrey Bornstein.
According to the report, Hogan was only able to access the device's Facebook application before it shut down, and only later did he discover that he was in possession of a prototype device. A friend of Hogan's reportedly called AppleCare on Hogan's behalf in a failed attempt to return the iPhone, which appears to be the extent of Hogan's effort to return the phone to its owner.
So, now the guy who found it just told a friend about it and then the friend contacted media outlets to see who would pay the most? Apparently, the friend is also the one who phoned the AppleCare number as the "attempt at returning it."
This friend also mentions getting legal advice from Law Profs on campus, which tells me that they were probably the ones who told him that a single call to the AppleCare number would suffice as a "reasonable attempt."
I wonder how much of the $5000 went to the friend?
Update: One is in the wild in Vietnam! It has been wiped, too, but a teardown revealed the Apple branded processor. Also, it has a cleaner design than the previous prototype.
Seems the search warrant has been released for public consumption. Jason Chen was charged with three felonies, some choice information in their too. In particular Brian Lam's (Gizmodo's Editor) letter to Steve Jobs after he phoned him asking for the iPhone back ...
Quote:
"Hey Steve, this email chain is off the record on my side.
I understand the position you're in, and I want to help, but it conflicts with my own responsibilities to give the phone back without any confirmation that its real, from apple, officially.
Something like that - from you or apple legal - is a big story, that would make up for giving the phone back right away. If the phone disappears without a story to explain why it went away, and the proof it went to apple, it hurts our business. And our reputation. People will say this is a coordinated leak, etc.
I get that it would hurt sales to say this is the next iphone. I have no interest in hurting sales. That does nothing to help Gizmodo or me.
Maybe Apple can say it's a lost phone, but not one that you've confirmed for production - that it is merely a test unit of sorts. Otherwise, it just falls to apple legal, which serves the same purpose of confirmation. I don't want that, either.
Gizmodo lives and dies like many small companies do. We don't have access, or when we do, we get it taken away. When we get a chance to break a story, we have to go with it, or we perish. I know you like waltand pogue, and like working with them, but I think Gizmodo has more in common with old Apple than those guys do. So I hope you understand where I'm coming from.
Right now, we have nothing to lose. The thing is, Apple PR has been cold to us lately. It affected my ability to do my job right at iPad launch. So we had to go outside and find our stories like this one, aggressively.
I want to get this phone back to you ASAP. And I want to not hurt your sales when the products themselves deserve love. But I have to get the story of the missing prototype out, and how it was returned to apple, with some acknowledgement it is Apple's
And I want to work closer with Apple, too. I'm not asking for more access - we can do our jobs with or without it - but again, this is the only way we can survive while being out of things. That's my position on things.
Yeah, I saw that earlier. I'm not sure what to make of the letter, really. These three bits of the story were of particular interest to me though...
Quote:
The documents indicate that Gizmodo's Jason Chen was considered in the requests to be a suspect in three felonies, including purchase or receipt of stolen property, theft of trade secrets, and malicious damage to another person's property (the prototype iPhone) valued at over $400.
The documents also include testimony that Brian Hogan, the finder of the iPhone, had received $8,500 from Gizmodo for the device, with an additional bonus payment to be made if Apple releases the expected device this summer.
And...
Quote:
Hogan's roommate relates a story very similar to that previously related by Hogan to Gizmodo, suggesting that another bar patron had picked up the iPhone and given it to him thinking it was his. It is unclear exactly how Apple engineer Gray Powell lost the iPhone, although he noted that the last thing he remembered was placing it in a bag he had brought with him to the bar. The bag was later knocked over, and it is possible that the phone fell out at that time.
Hogan's roommate also noted that she and other attempted to talk him out of selling the prototype iPhone by pointing to the effect it could have on Powell's career, but he was unswayed. Hogan reportedl said, "Sucks for him. He lost his phone. Shouldn't have lost his phone."
And...
Quote:
Apple also documented damage to the prototype iPhone upon its return, noting that a ribbon cable had been broke, a screw had been inserted incorrectly causing an electrical short, snaps for the back plate had been broken, and several screws had been stripped.
So basically after reading that, I put two parties at fault:
1) Brian Hogan + his accomplices.
2) Brian Lam (+ Gizmodo management)
It is unfortunate that Jason Chen, as an employee with full backing of his superiors, is having his life ruined, when all he did was do his job and report on a story. Usually in these stories, an employee goes behind the company's back to do unethical things, and in this case, it's clear that there was approval there.
With that report, I no longer believe that Powell "lost" his phone, and rather it was stolen from him. With the actions that followed (the bidding, hiding evidence etc.), it's clear that Hogan knew what he was doing.
I'd hit that green one in a heartbeat. Orange would be better, but Apple Yellow would insanely awesome.
I know, I know... yellow isn't very manly... but the right shade of yellow is incredibly foxy. Ferrari Yellow, for instance.
Apple Yellow:
Edit: Although, looking at that... it's great in small quantities (like an iPod Nano)... I'm not sure about something the size of an iPhone though. I think that would be a bit much. I'd love an orange one, though.
