Popular technology blog Gizmodo has returned an iPhone prototype it obtained after an Apple engineer inadvertently left the as-yet unreleased device in a bar in California.
The iPhone, disguised as the current 3GS model, was found in a bar in Redwood City, California, the site said.
The handset, using an unreleased version of Apple's operating system, has a front-facing camera, metallic rim and boxier design. It also has a camera flash, higher-resolution screen and larger battery, the blog said.
Gizmodo editor Jason Chen said the site paid $5,000 for the device. He said he returned the prototype to Apple yesterday after receiving a letter from the company's general counsel requesting it back.
"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," Mr Chen said in a response to Bruce Sewell, a lawyer for Apple.
The legitimacy of the device has been the subject of debate among Apple bloggers. That was laid to rest when Apple asked for its return, Mr Chen said.
"It has come to our attention that Gizmodo is currently in possession of a device that belongs to Apple", Mr Sewell wrote yesterday in a letter to Gizmodo which was published by the site. "Please let me know where to pick up the unit."
Gizmodo said its employees played with the prototype for a week, disassembled it and found components labelled "Apple."
The device was eventually remotely disabled, Gizmodo said. According to the website, the device was left behind at the bar in March by an Apple software engineer who was celebrating his birthday.
A patron discovered the abandoned prototype on a bar stool. After playing with it and realising it was an unreleased device, he tried to contact Apple to return it, Gizmodo said, citing an interview with the unnamed finder.
Apple is expected to introduce a new iPhone this summer and closely guards access to new products. Companies testing the iPad ahead of its April 3rd debut had to promise to keep it quarantined in a room with blacked-out windows and key-card locks. Non-disclosure agreements extend to messages posted on Twitter.
During a meeting with Apple representatives in February, Wall Street Journal deputy managing Editor Alan Murray posted a message to Twitter that announced he was using the iPad. The tweet was later removed from the site.
Emily Edmonds, a spokeswoman for Dow Jones and Co, the newspaper's publisher, confirmed the account.
Apple has used legal measures to pursue sources of leaks. In January 2007 the company was ordered to pay more than $750,000 to lawyers who defended online journalists against the company's failed attempt to force them to reveal sources of confidential information used in news stories.
Gizmodo said one of its editors spoke with the Apple engineer by phone and was told by him that someone from the company would contact the site. "I hope you take it easy on the kid who lost it," Mr Chen said in his letter to Apple. "I don't think he loves anything more than Apple."
Bloomberg