10 juicy details from the iPhone affidavit

How the cops cracked the case of the missing fourth-generation prototype, step by step

Click to enlarge. Source: San Mateo Superior Court

Here's what we know now that we didn't know before the court released a San Mateo detective's 10-page sworn statement of facts:

• When Gizmodo posted photos and videos of Apple's (AAPL) top-secret iPhone prototype, Steve Jobs got right on the horn to Gizmodo's editor, Brian Lam, and read him the riot act. He wanted the thing back, but was mostly worried what Gizmodo's story would do to sales of the iPhone 3GS.
• Lam comes back with a smarmy "off the record" e-mail. He won't return the dingus without a story he can run with -- like a letter from Apple legal saying it's the real deal. Then he makes a pitch for better access: "The thing is, Apple PR has been cold to us lately... I know you like walt [Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal] and pogue [David Pogue of the New York Times], and like working with them, but I think Gizmodo has more in common with old Apple than those guys do."

More

Posted in: Apple, Brian Lam, Gizmodo, iPhone, Jason Chen, Lost, Missing, Prototype, Stolen

• Lost iPhone: The cops are on the case

  Santa Clara police are reported to be investigating the purchase of a top-secret prototype

  Is somebody going to go to jail?

  According to a CNET report posted Friday, police in Silicon Valley are investigating the sale of an iPhone prototype that was accidentally left in a bar by an Apple (AAPL) engineer and purchased by a gadget website for $5,000.

  The purpose of the investigation, according to CNET's source, an unnamed law-enforcement official, MORE

  Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Apr 23, 2010 5:34 PM ET
  Posted in: Apple, CNET, iPhone, iPhone 4G, Lost iPhone, Prototype, Stolen

• Stolen iPhones turn up in Russia

  Smartphones linked to a big Belgian heist are being unloaded in batches of 100

  Russian bloggers report that Apple (AAPL) iPhones in mint condition are being offered in batches of 100 at "knockdown" prices to wholesalers in Moscow's notorious Gorbushka electronics marketplace.

  Because the phones are unlocked and have Belgian model numbers they are believed to be swag from the largest iPhone heist to date -- an industrial-scale B&E in which thieves MORE

  Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Nov 30, 2009 6:56 AM ET
  Posted in: Apple, Belgian, Belgium, Gorbushka, iPhone, Moscow, Russia, Stolen