The San Francisco Police Department has commented further on the case of the missing iPhone prototype.
Earlier this week, CNet caused quite the splash when it exclusively revealed that Apple had lost yet another iPhone prototype in a bar in San Francisco. The site's source said that the phone had been lost at a tequila bar named Cava 22 and that Apple had contacted police, desperate to recover the device. However, while the CNet report did say that SF police had said no police report had been filed, it seems other details of the story are now being thrown into question thanks to statements from the SFPD.
The original CNet story reported that Apple had contacted police regarding the phone and company personnel had accompanied the police to a house in Bernal Heights. According to the story, this house was searched, with permission from the owner, by police. However, SFPD spokesman Officer Albie Esparza told SF Weekly that standard procedure would mean there would be a record if that had happened but there are no records to suggest any such activity. Furthermore, SF Weekly cites Esparza as saying he relayed this information to CNet's Declan McCullagh weeks ago.
CNet says its source is 'familiar with the investigation' but has not commented on Officer Albie Esparza's remarks to SF Weekly. The site has also not offered any explanation as to why it ran the story when it was supposedly told 'weeks ago' that there was no police records to support McDullagh's source's story. CNet's source is likely a trusted one (it would have to be for the site to run the story with no evidence from SFPD). However, it's possible the source's own information was bad. Another theory is that the whole thing was cooked up by Apple in an effort to drum up some excitement for the rumored upcoming launch of iPhone 5. Hey, anything is possible, right?
[UPDATE]SF Weekly is running a new story, this time with comments from San Francisco Police Department spokesman Lt. Troy Dangerfield. Dangerfield says that three or four plainclothes SFPD officers accompanied two Apple security officials to a search of a Bernal Heights man's home. The officers waited outside while Apple security officials searched the man's home, car and computer.
Sergio Calderón, the 22-year-old living at the house, told SF Weekly that six people with badges showed up to ask about the phone and while none of them identified themselves as working for Apple, they offered him $300 for the safe return of the phone and said the owner would not press charges if he gave it back. He said that only two of them entered his home, but says they never identified themselves as Apple employees. He says that he assumed they were SFPD because they were with the group that identified themselves as SFPD. Calderón says he would not have let them inside his house had he known they were not police officers. They are also said to have threatened Calderón, asking him if he and everyone else in the house were all American citizens. One of the men left a phone number with him that SF Weekly has since traced to Anthony Colon, an investigator employed by Apple.
Dangerfield says he plans to ask Calderón more questions about the incident. He did comment on why SFPD spokesman Officer Albie Esparza initially said there was no police involvement in the incident.
"UPDATE - 7:30 p.m. ET Friday. After denying to SF Weekly that San Francisco Police Department officers had been at the scene of the iPhone search, SFPD is now telling the weekly that they accompanied investigators to the home, but did not go in."
Complete loss of control of the gov. and big business is now official. One person mentioned
cyberpunk (rpg), I still have the manual and looked up private police force for corporations. Funny how a game from ~20yrs ago inadvertently predicted the future.
Apple learned from the iPhone 4 loss that the negative publicity didn't hurt them at all. In fact, it generated a great deal of hype in general media outlets that they wouldn't have normally received so much attention from. Apple understands that the iPhone 4 loss (despite the rather poor handling of that incident by Apple) actually generated additional sales.
Yes, in the tech media outlets, there is already a great deal of hype that has been generated. However, the iPhone is a device for the masses, so Apple needs to generate better messaging for that audience. Android devices are a real threat to Apple (hence all the lawsuits whether you believe they have merit or not) since the Android devices in totality (from all phone vendors) is already dominating. Look at all the free advertising that has been generated for the iPhone 5 as a result.
Whether Apple did this on purpose or not is a real question that should be asked. This is no baiting, and this is no conspiracy theory. If you think large corporations are incapable of such activities in the name of simple profits or market dominance, your understanding of corporations is very naive.
but, once you power up an iDevice, you get the same old boring interface, with no options to really change or improve it... like you all are going to the same prostitute.
You can bet your it needs more excitement.... BTW, to acknowledge that they are always trying to pull some old PR move to get attention doesn't make one a hater or a conspiracy theorist (conspiracy? what conspiracy?); it takes one to make one up. Just be happy in your golden apple cage, buddy, nobody hates you for that.
Doesn't mean it isn't true
Are you saying that you think this was a genuine accident?
Maybe 100 years ago this tactic would have been believed but since Apple have done the same thing with so many products over such a short period of time the chance of it being accidental approaches zero much quicker.
I think the law knows of another law that is being broken in people's ownership of the phone being breached. The privacy of the owner of the phone tapped or wired by the new phones that, don't forget, REQUIRE internet access in order to buy from a company. So it goes toe to toe in another realm of perspective that isn't being talked about.
No one really is trying to put themselves above the law. That's just stupid in a big company. It really IS the law enforcement (more than likely the Federal Government's FBI) doing these decisions that is not part of the law and can go against them, but if found, they'll try to evade casualties to the Fed as usual when unlawful mishaps like this happen (example: Cointelpro, etc).
You have to really think and know some of the history to actually see that this is not truly what the investigation is all about. There's only two ways this will result to: A fall guy, or them literally being caught by mere California policemen (since state law enforcement do not always know what fed enforcement do or not informed MOST of the time).
SFPD need to prosecute Apple offenders for iMpersonating police officers.
aka "Jobs In Jail"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8
i have nothing to hide, but would tell police to get a warrant, if it was apple, and i knew it was apple, id of told them to pound sand, than get a bit closer and slam the door in their face.
to be fair, not just apple, and big business that would want to search my house i would treat just as bad, but apple seams most likely to want to search you.
2: Having civilian security officials along- with or without a warrant- is going to be cause for a civil suit that can cost Apple millions.
Just goes to show you how doomed the US is, being totally overrun with every kind of third world refuse.
But honestly, why dose Apple have the right to search a civilian's home? This is so wrong.
Uhhh yeah... we were a nation built from third world 'refuse'... derp derp. They're breaking the law yeah, but they're still as human as you...
Well Kzon, I can actually almost understand you this time. Keep up the good work.
This guy Calderón should sue. He should sue the pants off Apple and he should sue the pants off SFPD. He consented to a search from the police and in return they lied to him and sent in Apple's corporate enforcers. I'd say his initial consent doesn't stop this from fitting under 'unreasonable search'