CNET reports iPhone 5 lost by Apple employee at a restaurant.

CNET has a knack for getting the most relevant tech news out before anyone else, and they seem to have done it again. Reportedly an Apple employee has misplaced an iPhone 5 at a restaurant, and if anyone remembers the storm of controversy that surrounded a similar incident with the iPhone 4, then I hope that whoever has it returns it promptly or face the wrath of Apple. Apple’s dead serious about IP protection. Apparently the prototype was lost in San Francisco’s Mission District sometime in July and Apple scrambled to recover the lost phone. Apple went with San Francisco PD to a family’s house and questioned a man there who claimed to know nothing of the phone. In a really great movie scene-esque move, the Apple agent allegedly offered him cash for the device no questions asked but he still denied having it. As anyone can tell you, the design and features of the new iPhone 5 are eagerly anticipated. Surely if the phone were being used Apple could locate it, right? I imagine it would be difficult to get away with using, but maybe in an expert’s hand it could fly under the radar as just another iPhone.