San Mateo, California, police on the hunt for evidence linking the sale of a lost iPhone 4G prototype for US$5,000 to Gizmodo have raided the home of a blogger, looking for photos of the device.
Gadget site Gizmodo is understood to have bought the device after a software engineer on a night out left the device in a bar in San Jose, California.
Apple is treating the transaction as a felony while Gizmodo is trumpeting the revelation that Apple is releasing the new device this summer as a scoop.
Police are understood to have seized four computers, two servers, an iPad and other devices from the home of Gizmodo editor Jason Chen.
The search warrant states that Chen’s equipment may contain photos of Apple’s prototype iPhone 4G and call records and email pertaining to its purchase.
Gizmodo’s publishers Gawker Media say the search of Chen’s home and seizure of equipment is illegal under California law because he worked for the company as a journalist.
By John Kennedy
Photo: The iPhone 3G
