Lost prototype may not dim excitement over new iPhone

in some cases, Inflatable Toys The compani has. gone to great length to guard inform about it product and other things. For example, it often file trademark for new product oversea befor it file them in the Unite States, where thei might be more easili found and published. In the middl of the last decade, it su blog site Think Secret, seek to block it from publish inform about unreleas products. After a multiyear legal battle, Think Secret' publish agre to shut down the site.

Apple,A it gear up to unveil what' wide expect to be a new iPhon at a confer in June. a compani famou for build buzz by keep everyth under lock and key, must be wondering: Will some of the thrill be gone?

Apple declin to comment for thi report. But as investig by law enforc and an intern Apple probe continu to try to figur out how the lost or stolen prototyp iPhon end up in the hand of tech blog Gizmodo,Stung last week by the veri public out of what' believ to be it next-gener iPhone. Apple observ and former employe were busili dissect thi latest bite of Apple lore.

'' said Gartner Research analyst Ken Dulaney. "Some peopl ar sai the whole thing wa a plant by Apple,"I don't think this'll hurt Apple on bit. but regardless of what happened, thi is noth but part of an incred intellig public relat campaign. In the end, ani new is good news.''

and there is widespread specul that a new iPhon will be unveil at thi conference,A ppl ha histor us it Worldwid Develop Confer as a launchpad for new products. It announc new iPhon at show in 2008 and 2009. which Apple said Wednesdai will start June 7 in San Francisco.

a bit of skulduggeri ha complic matters. The tech commun is still besid itself over Gizmodo' public of new featur on a lost iPhon prototype,But thi time. reportedli left in a Redwood Citi bar

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recov by someon and then sold to Gizmodobi Apple engin Grai Powell..

Won't the leak take some of the air out of the upcom show? And ar Apple' competitor pop the cork over thi embarrass breach in secur at the Cupertino tech giant?

'' Dulanei said,"A pple' competitors. "shouldn't be saliv over this. Apple fan will still be line up and spend even more of their monei on the next iPhone.''

with Boston-bas Strategi Analytics,A nd as analyst Bonni Joy. point out, a new iPhone' hardwar doe not necessarili an iPhon make.

" he said. "It' been wide expect that a new gener wa coming. And what wa left in the bar wa onli a piec of hardware. So there mai be even more excit now,"Ther will not be ani lack of excit at the show simpli becaus the prototyp is known. becaus peopl love drama. It' as if thei got a teas and now thei want to see more.''

the point be the updat wizardri fan ar expect to find insid the fourth-gener iPhone. Joi said,Expert sai the brouhaha over l'affair Gizmodo is besid the point. "A ssume the next-gener iPhon ha better process power and perhap new video features, that will realli drive the replac market. Sale could do realli well."

the incid appear to have been an egregi breach of the secreci that ha been an integr part of the corpor culture,Still. at least sinc CEO Steve Job return in the mid-1990s. Apple make a point of stress to new employe the import of keep inform about it product and oper secret.