A Google employee will be lucky to escape with his or her hide intact after leaving a prototype of the Google Nexus 4 smartphone at a bar in September.
Details have surfaced about the incident of the misplaced Nexus 4 prototype, and it’s a sorry tale that casts Google in a bad light.
The smartphone was discovered by San Francisco 500 Club bartender, Jamin Barton, sometime in September, after an unknown patron had left it behind. Barton knew it was not one of the ordinary smartphones that he usually finds at the end of the night, because it had no sim card, was locked, and had a sticker on the back saying ‘Not For Sale’, along with the Google logo.
After showing it to another patron, the smartphone was immediately recognised it for what it was: a prototype of the hush-hush Google Nexus 4.
According to The Wired, after the patron (referenced as “Dave”) contacted the Google giant to notify them, he became upset, saying that Google had threatened to consider him an accessory to what was apparently a crime.
The person in charge of the recovery, Brian Katz, even reportedly told bar patrons of the 500 Club that Google could file criminal charges in relation to the misplaced Nexus 4 prototype.
The prototype was retrieved on September 20th, but for all the good that did them photos of the Nexus 4 were still leaked multiple times after that. Google reportedly offered “Dave” a free phone if he kept quiet about the incident, but The Wired has the full story along with photos.
This is not the first time a prototype smartphone has been accidentally left at a bar. In 2010 a prototype of the Apple iPhone 4 was also left at one, which begs the question, why do these technological giants allow their employees to wander off with top-secret hardware?
(image courtesy of The Wired)