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Blog says Apple wants mysterious device returned

Tech website Gizmodo on Tuesday said Apple requested it to return a device that the blog says is a fourth-generation iPhone.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Tech website Gizmodo on Tuesday said Apple requested it to return a device that the blog says is a fourth-generation iPhone.

The announcement comes a day after the blog said it had acquired a prototype of the next iPhone, disguised as an older model, that an Apple employee mistakenly left at a bar. The strange Silicon Valley saga has the blogosphere foaming with levity, skepticism and legal questions.

On Monday, Gizmodo announced that they had bought the device for $5,000 from a source who found it in a Redwood City, Calif., beer garden. Within 24 hours, Gizmodo's report - including the disclosure of a front-facing camera in the new phone to facilitate video chat - generated a whopping 5 million hits, a record for its parent company, Gawker Media, known for its tabloid tastes.

Gizmodo on Tuesday posted an image of a letter addressed to Brian Lam, Gizmodo's editorial director, and signed by Bruce Sewell, senior vice president and general counsel for Apple. The letter, which has Monday's date, says that "this letter constitutes a formal request that you return the device to Apple. Please let me know where to pick up the unit."

The blog said Gray Powell, an Apple employee, mistakenly left the device at the bar after celebrating his birthday there.

Apple has not returned phone calls or e-mails from the San Jose Mercury News, and efforts to reach Powell or people close to him have been unsuccessful.

Apple, which has sold more than 50 million iPhones worldwide, is expected to release the next iteration of the device in June, along with the iPhone 4.0 operating system, which will allow seamless multi-tasking for the first time.

The saga began Monday, when Gizmodo launched a video with this caption: "You are looking at Apple's next iPhone. It was found lost in a bar in Redwood City, camouflaged to look like an iPhone 3GS. We got it. We disassembled it. It's the real thing."

"It is my understanding that Apple considers this unit stolen, not lost," John Gruber wrote Monday in his blog Daring Fireball, known for its analysis of Apple. Initially skeptical of the report, Gruber said his subsequent research supported Gizmodo's claim. He said he learned about an Apple patent for a device with a glass-like ceramic enclosure, a feature of the gadget obtained by Gizmodo.

"That this belongs to and was made by Apple is almost beyond question at this point," Gruber wrote.

On Tuesday, Gizmodo posted their reply to Apple's letter. "Happy to have you pick this thing up. Was burning a hole in our pockets," Lam replied.

Lam's next words seemed tailored to address legal questions: "Just so you know, we didn't know this was stolen when we bought it. 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."

Gizmodo also attached a "P.S." that presumably refers to Powell: "I hope you take it easy on the kid who lost it. I don't think he loves anything more than Apple."

Though there is no official confirmation of Powell's role, his predicament has generated an outpouring of reaction on the Web. The comical include a variety of "fan" pages on Facebook, including one that appears to be a jocular impersonator, as well as offers of satirical T-shirts. ("I went drinking with Gray Powell and all I got was a lousy iPhone prototype.")

When some questioned whether Powell exists, Gizmodo quoted from a telephone conversation with him and declared: "Gray Powell is a real person."

Gizmodo said that the "outing" of Powell was inevitable, and expressed hope that he would not be harshly punished. "The only real mistake," Gizmodo wrote, "would be to fire Gray in the name of Apple's legendary impenetrable security, breached by the power of German beer and one single human error."

Gizmodo also sought to knock down suggestions that it was all some sort of elaborate marketing stunt by Apple. Steve Jobs' company, it pointed out, hasn't been fond of Gizmodo since it reported news, which proved accurate, of Jobs' health troubles.

(c) 2010, San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.).

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.