Reportedly left in a Redwood City bar, the folks at Gizmodo got their hands on the hardware and have posted a detailed review.

Of course, this begs the question: was this a deliberate marketing move on Apple’s part?

I believe so. Apple’s commitment to secrecy is unparalleled. Perhaps the only thing that isn’t a secret is how proactive Apple is when it comes to keeping their intellectual property and upcoming hardware under wraps.

That’s Very… Umm… Un-Apple

In today’s tech ecosystem, littered with acqui-hires, leaks and cutthroat competition, it’s rare that a company can keep a secret long. In fact, when was the last time a technology company successfully kept an upcoming product launch in the dark? It happens very rarely, but when it does, there’s an excellent chance it’s an Apple product.

That said, if Apple was missing a legitimately misplaced and/or stolen prototype, I believe that they would not, under any circumstance, acknowledge this to the general public.

An employee of Foxconn, Apple’s main China-based iPad and iPhone manufacturer, reportedly committed suicide after an interrogation related to a missing iPhone prototype. Foxconn has also made headlines internationally for the attempted detainment of a Reuters photographer after he attempted to photograph the corporation’s exterior gates.

While clearly we don’t put the same pressure on ourselves in America, it’s doubtful that anyone at Apple that is approved to carry an iPhone prototype outside of the campus would be so careless as to leave it in a bar. My iPhone is a simple 3G S and I’ve never left it in a bar. Moreover, if I were tasked with such a responsibility, you can bet I wouldn’t bring the device out socially in the first place.

The Location

If one were an Apple marketer looking for a prime spot to plant an iPhone prototype, Redwood City would be ideal. Situated only 25 minutes from Apple’s corporate headquarters in Cupertino, California, Redwood City is also a hotbed of tech blogging talent (and only a short 15 minute drive from Google’s campus in Mountain View).

Had that device been discovered in a Pabst Blue Ribbon soaked booth in downtown Orlando, it may have eventually seen the light of day but it could just as easily been tossed in a lost-and-found or carried home in the back pocket of some oblivious bartender. For Apple, that would have been unacceptable. If you’re going risk sending the culmination of the bulk of your R&D budget into the wild, you’re going to give it the best chance for survival that you can.

The Timing

Is it a coincidence that this one-of-a-kind break down in Apple’s airtight security occurs only days before Apple’s April 20th quarterly earnings announcement? Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t.

Ultimately, I think the manner in which Apple handles the person responsible for “losing” the device will be very telling.

The Device

Is this the device that Apple intends to unveil at the 2010 Worldwide Developer’s Conference? Perhaps. My guess would be that, while the discovered iPhone appears to be a “finished product”, it will still undergo a few transformations and minor refinements before reaching consumers. I could be entirely wrong, but this could have just been Apple’s attempt to acknowledge some anticipated features while wetting the appetite and spurring the imagination of consumers.

Given the world-renowned showmanship of Steve Jobs, it seems as though it would be supremely uncharacteristic of Apple allow the debut of hardware to the general public outside of a big conference hall. However, that said, if this was intentional, you can bet that old Uncle Steve still has something up his sleeve.

Either way, well played, Apple. Well played, indeed.

I’ve simply paired my Apple wireless keyboard with my iPad via Bluetooth. A special thanks to one of our commercial producers who noticed me tearing the office apart in search something that would suffice as a stand. The $3 book stand that she provided works amazing!

My first instinct was to reach for a mouse. Naturally that led me to look into whether there was even the slim possibility that Apple had included mouse support. There’s really no big shocker here: they didn’t.

I can’t say that surprises me, given the amount of research and marketing put into developing a successful touch-based platform. Including mouse support would almost seem counterproductive to Apple’s overall vision; a concession to the old way of doing things.

However, despite my skepticism, I am really pleased with the overall experience of using a wireless keyboard in conjunction with traditional touch manipulation of the device.

After eight hours of continuous office use today, I’m convinced that a new MacBook can come off my wish list. I’ll be just fine with my iMac and iPad.

I was right.

It seems that Dev-Team member, “MuscleNerd“, has posted a first look at what’s being called the “Spirit” jailbreak. The video is nothing fancy, just a few minutes of SSH and command line iPad manipulation, but it’s a start.

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That said, I suppose it would be foolish of me to expect the teenage douchebaggery machine to sit idle in times of innovation. Much like a booster following his alma mater, I still enjoy a good prank and occasionally watching a well thought out foray into juvenile delinquency.

However, this is just bush league.

First off, RIM is doing it all wrong. We all know the first step to a successful product launch is to secure a remote production facility, preferably in a country with negotiable morals and with access to a limitless population of unquestioning drones content to live in a remote industrial shanty town that you establish. And remember, nothing builds synergy like a routine, yet thorough cavity search of all assembly personnel. For added impact and some international press, feel free to rough up a Reuters or AP reporter.

How do you know when your product has made it? First, market share. Second, when employees start killing themselves for disgracing the company.

Of course I’m being sarcastic, and Foxconn, Apple’s components supplier, ships parts around the world to countless Western electronics manufacturers, but it highlights just how big of a deal the iPhone has become.

That said, it’s no surprise that a recent Crowd Science poll, and subsequent 9to5 Mac article detailed that almost 40% of current BlackBerry users “prefer Apple’s iPhone for their next smartphone purchase.”

Clearly, if you’ve spent any time on my blog you’ll know that I’m an iPhone guy– no debating that. But for the past two years I’ve endured countless watercooler conversations where BlackBerry owner after BlackBerry owner touted their beloved RIM device, claiming to “prefer it to the iPhone”. I’m glad to know that, at least for 40% of you, your claims were total bullshit.

While there’s no question that devices comparable to Apple’s iPhone are already available to consumers– none of them are BlackBerry devices. The BlackBerry is a capable device, but to say you prefer it to the iPhone is like saying “I prefer to churn my own butter because I like it”. Sure, you can have a preference, but let’s not act as though churning your own butter is as efficient as purchasing it in the store.

Keep your head up. I’m sure your contract will be over soon.

Don’t Worry! Here’s How To Fix It!

Every year around the holidays the iTunes gift cards start rolling in. It’s a safe play for distant relatives, friends and colleagues. Needless to say, I’ve gingerly scratched the adhesive backing off many an iTunes gift card. That said, I wasn’t terribly surprised when this time around I scratched too hard and took the gift card’s secret code off with the adhesive. Perhaps I was due.

Granted, it was my fault, but I was out $25.

Moreover, I was relatively unsure of where to start and I had a lot of questions: Do I return it to the store where it was purchased? Should I contact Apple directly? Is getting reimbursed even a possibility?

I was happy to learn that, as suspected, my issue was not an isolated incident and Apple does have measures in place to assist consumers with recovering their iTunes gift card credit. Better yet, it required no phone calls or in-store visit and can be done entirely through iTunes.

How To Obtain The Secret Code

So Easy, A Caveman Could Do It

There’s no doubt that for the better part of its existence the Xbox 360 has been plagued by the dreaded “Red Ring of Death”.

In a perverse way, it’s the cancer of the 360 community– if you’ve been around long enough and you haven’t been impacted by it yourself, you at very least know someone who has.

In 2007, amid criticism for failing to best PlayStation’s three-year warranty and facing an inordinate number of complaints regarding hardware failures, Microsoft opted to extend the Xbox 360′s warranty.

While my Xbox 360 is no stranger to the Red Ring, I’ve always managed to keep it in check with a handy (and free) trick. Keep in mind that this trick is only a temporary fix and the lifespan of the repair will vary depending on any number of variables, including frequency of use, temperature of the unit, etc.

If you browsed around the Web, you probably noted that most first-hand accounts of this fix point out that you will probably have to repeat it every two to three weeks. While that may be true for most, I recently went 3+ months without an issue.

That said, it’s free, painfully simple and requires only a jacket or towel.

Enjoy the video.

I’m a dick. There, I said it.

Now that I’ve brought you up to speed we are free to get to this first of what I hope to be a few of my these videos.

The Backstory

I recently got married and my favorite uncle, often known for impressive, thoughtful and occasionally expensive gifts, went way outside the box.

What did he get us to help commemorate and celebrate the biggest day of our lives? A pair of ceramic chihuahua salt and pepper shakers. Well played, sir. Well played, indeed.

We all know that no ill will was implied by such a gift. Moreover, we have our doubts that he even knew what was in the box. However, that doesn’t mean we are going to let it go.

Hitler Learns Of The Chihuahuas

Here is a direct link to the video on YouTube. It is also embedded in the post below.

The chihuahuas recently spent a week in Croatia with us, filming on location and experiencing a cross section of eastern Europe.

Let’s find out what happens when Hitler learns of my uncle and his amazing chihuahuas: