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How Gizmodo got its iPhone scoop (Q&A)

The unnamed person who now famously found the lost prototype iPhone approached both Gizmodo and Engadget, rival technology blogs, with an offer. Gizmodo came away with the device.

How Gizmodo and parent company Gawker Media ended up in possession of what appears to be a prototype of an unreleased and as-yet-unannounced iPhone 4G is just one of the burning questions answered Tuesday by Gawker CEO Nick Denton in an interview with CNET.

On Monday, Gizmodo published photos and analysis of what Denton and editors there said is the next generation of Apple's era-defining iPhone. Apple has bolstered Gizmodo's … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1210: Hug a n00b (podcast)

Ubisoft is doing away with paper manuals, which means gaming n00bs will be forever stuck in virtual corners trying to figure out the right button combination for re-load. Also, Apple wants its secret iPhone back and Molly just wants you to know that next time you find a top-secret prototype in a bar, you should call her instead of Gizmodo. Oh, and if you want porn, buy an Android phone, says Steve Jobs. Good day for Android.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1210

A Letter: Apple Wants Its … Read more

The 404 563: Where strange things are afoot at the Circle K (podcast)

The first half of today's extra silly episode of The 404 Podcast is all about the latest updates surrounding the iPhone 4G prototype found on a bar floor in Redwood City, California--turns out the phone really does belong to Apple, and Darth Jobs wants it back. Last night, Gizmodo posted a picture of a very brief letter sent to editorial director Brian Lam asking for the device in question, validating its authenticity as an Apple product. So now that it's out on the open, certain issues need to be addressed on our show.

First, should Gizmodo have outed the Apple engineer that misplaced the phone in the first place? What's going to happen to his job--should he be let go for his folly? What legal action can, or will, Apple take against Gizmodo for paying $10,000 for the phone? And finally, who is the secret identity of this "good Samaritan" that received said $10,000 from Gizmodo? The first half of the show attempts to answer these tricky questions.

To compound the workload of Apple PR, here's another story about a guy who also lost an Apple product, and more. Fifty-nine-year-old Bill Jordan from Colorado had just come out of an Apple store holding a brand new iPad in an Apple bag tied around his wrist, when all of a sudden he noticed two young men following him to the garage where he parked his car. Just as he got to the vehicle, the assailants attacked the man and tried to grab the bag in his hand, and what happens next is not for the faint of heart:

""He was almost sitting on the ground he was pulling so hard and it was still tied around my fingers; and it wouldn't come off and then finally he gave it one big jerk; and that's when he stripped the skin off my pinky and it went right down to the bone."

The worst part of the story is that he wasn't even buying the iPad for himself; he'd been asked by a coworker to pick one up for a "colleague in Canada who is being promoted!" OK, actually, the worst part is about his left pinky getting torn off, and our condolences go out to Jordan, who we can only guess will be a big proponent of online shopping from now on.

In addition to correcting an error in Calls From The Public, we also talk about the Boy Scouts of America's newest merit badge for GEOCACHING. For people who aren't king-size dorks, geocaching is a high-tech version of "hide and go seek," where participants use GPS devices to locate hidden containers across the world. That sounds like great fun for these savvy young men, but Wilson brings up a good point- should we be celebrating this underhanded throw of an accomplishment? Isn't this the equivalent of awarding a Firestarter badge to the kid with a Bic lighter and a newspaper in his hand?

Like today's episode? Add YOUR voice to The 404 Podcast by leaving a voice mail at 1-866-404-CNET or send us an e-mail to the404(at)cnet(dot)com. Happy everything, everyone!

EPISODE 563 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Meet the guy who supposedly lost 4G iPhone

General public, meet Gray Powell. Gray Powell, meet the world. See, according to Gizmodo, Gray is the unfortunate Apple employee who lost a prototype next-gen iPhone in a San Francisco Bay Area bar. The supposed carelessness has sparked a flurry of cloak- and dagger-style discussion in the blogosphere, among tech pundits, and, of course, on Twitter.

Gizmodo says Powell left his phone on a stool at German bar Gourmet Haus Staudt in Redwood City, Calif. The oft-tweeted story goes that a drunk person handed it to the Mysterious Man, the person who got the prototype phone to Gizmodo after allegedly … Read more

iPhone 4G hardware expectations

The gadget world is buzzing today over a supposed iPhone 4G that both Engadget and Gizmodo say was discovered on a bathroom floor in a bar in California. Gizmodo says it has even procured the hardware for a more detailed hands-on overview of what we can expect from the next iPhone.

It's hard to approach this discovery without some amount of skepticism, but we have to admit that some of the evidence lines up with what we have been expecting from the next iPhone. Here, we detail which specs align with our predictions and which make us wonder whether this hardware leak could be a decoy.

The specs we found believable:

Micro SIM card instead of a regular SIM card. We already know that the iPad with 3G will use micro SIM cards instead of normal SIM cards, and we don't know of other cell phone companies that use this new SIM card format.

Front-facing camera. Because of the recently announced VoIP multitasking abilities in iPhone OS 4, the front-facing camera is a natural fit for Skype users or anyone who wants to use video chat.

What looks like an IPS display, similar to the one on the iPad. We did speculate that Apple would have a better display on the next iPhone, and we didn't think Apple would leap on the OLED bandwagon, so again, this seems to be in line with expectations.

Larger battery. Longer battery life is a big issue, and we definitely expected some kind of hardware revision to ensure that to be the case.

The placement of the home button is similar to that on the iPhone 3GS, thus retaining the same iPhone look and feel.

Now for the details that make us wonder if this is either a decoy or just an early prototype:… Read more

The leaked 'iPhone 4G': How did this happen?

People lose their iPhones all the time. But it's not often that a super-secret prototype of a not-yet-released iPhone is carelessly left on the floor of a local drinking establishment.

But apparently that's what happened, according to two different gadget blogs. That this would happen to a company like Apple, which takes secrecy and security of its products very seriously, is surprising. Apple has not yet said there even is an iPhone 4G--although it's a safe bet there will be based on the pattern of the past three years. Steve Jobs has said that new iPhone software is coming "this summer," but the company has stopped short of acknowledging that new hardware is in the works.

Normally the first time we see a new Apple product it is in Jobs' hands while standing on a stage in front of an audience of geeks and journalists. So what happened this time?

To back up: Over the weekend, Engadget posted photos of what it said might be the iPhone 4G, or the next-generation version of Apple's phone. It said it was found on the floor of a bar in San Jose, Calif., and a tipster sent the photos into the gadget blog for posting. The pictures are sort of blurry and the device is never shown powered up, so it didn't seem that hard to dismiss as yet another fake iPhone knockoff.

Flash forward to Monday morning. Engadget's rival blog, Gizmodo, ups the ante with its own photos and video of what appears to be the same device, though it claims it's from "someone" who found it on the floor of a bar in Redwood City, Calif. How Gizmodo got its hands on it is unclear.

There have been several suggestions that Gizmodo's parent company, Gawker Media, bought it. A tweet from Gawker boss Nick Denton on Monday appeared to confirm Gawker's willingness to pay for stories, though Gizmodo hasn't yet responded to a request for comment. The company generated much publicity when Gizmodo's sister blog Valleywag announced a bounty on early access to an iPad. Denton has also considered paying for paparazzi-style photographs of sports stars for its sports blog Deadspin. It's not impossible that the company saw Engadget's pics and tracked down the person who sent it in and paid him or her for it.

Blogger John Gruber at DaringFireball.net says that, according to his contacts at Apple, the purported iPhone 4G is considered "stolen" by Apple.

Apple has not responded to a request for comment.

Assuming both Engadget and Gizmodo discovered the same device, there are some odd inconsistencies in the stories, such as the discrepancy between being lost at a bar in San Jose and Redwood City, as well as claims of seeing the device powered on, but not showing photos of it. Also, Gizmodo says it took the thing apart, yet it didn't post photos of the processor or the storage.

But more importantly, how did this happen?… Read more

The 404 562: Where we picked up an iPhone 4G at a bar, bought it a drink, and took it home (podcast)

The same thing always happens to the Internet in the months building up to a new Apple product: a random Twitter users and/or one of the big tech blogs gets their hands on a one-off photo and the entire industry blows it up speculating whether or not the image is an authentic leak. Today is one of those days.

Engadget started it all by posting these pictures of a rumored 4G iPhone acquired over the weekend, claiming that "someone" found the phone on the floor of a bar in Silicon Valley. Before you start raising red flags of disbelief, consider that Gizmodo is corroborating Engadget's story with a hands-on with the actual device! Who knows how much blood was shed in acquiring the device, but Gizmodo has it and they believe it's the real thing.

Unfortunately there's no way to confirm the rumor since it won't turn on, but the design details certainly fall in with the iPhone's natural evolution. The device moves from the 3GS's rounded edges to an entirely flat back made of a plastic-y material, has a camera on the front for video calls in addition to the one on the back (now with flash), an improved display possibly at 960X640 resolution, a secondary mic for noise cancellation, and split volume buttons. Finally, there's a slot for a micro-SIM card, which closes the door on hopes that the Apple/AT&T would relinquish their exclusive partnership with the new model.

Tune in for our own predictions on the next gen iPhone plus a story about online game shoppers getting duped into selling their souls, a new 404 theme song courtesy of a 4 year old girl, and more!

EPISODE 562 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

iPhone 4G prototype found on a bar floor?

The rumor mill is gearing up for the launch of Apple's fourth-generation iPhone, and the latest rumor has an aroma of fermented hops and barley.

Many observers expect Apple to release a new model in late spring or early summer. CEO Steve Jobs said recently that an updated mobile OS would be ready this summer--a perfect opportunity to release new iPhone hardware. Fueling speculation that a June launch is imminent is a report from Boy Genius Report that it has "confirmed with multiple AT&T sources that the carrier has now put a block on employees … Read more

What I want from the Evo 4G

Excuse me for being a little anxious, but I can't wait for the HTC Evo 4G to go on sale. I got to handle Sprint's first WiMax cell phone at CTIA last month and liked what I saw immediately. Sure, you can argue that its hardware isn't so different from the HTC HD2, but that doesn't take away from the Evo 4G's stunning display, sleek design, and high-end features. And more than just being Sprint's first 4G phone, it's also the first 4G phone from any big U.S carrier.

So yes, I'm excited, but I also believe in having realistic expectations. Though the Evo 4G stands to be a very good phone, I'll be disappointed if I assume that it will be the greatest phone ever. I also know that a lot can happen between the time a phone is announced and when it's introduced, which is why I offer Sprint some advice. I know, "Sprint, don't screw it up," (my last tip), isn't very helpful, so I'll be more specific this time.

Rumored release dates for Sprint HTC EVO 4G

The rumors surrounding the release date of the HTC EVO 4G from Sprint are starting to pick up.

According to reports received over at Engadget Mobile, two possible dates gaining some traction are June 6 and June 13. With both of those dates falling on a Sunday, these line up with previous launches for Sprint, since the carrier has a reputation for releasing handsets on Sundays.

Engadget Mobile is also reporting that the 4G hot spot service will available as a $10 to $20 add-on (for those of you who aren't familiar with this feature, the EVO 4G can … Read more