In short, Apple engineer Robert "Gray" Powell accidentally left his fourth-generation iPhone in a Redwood City, California restaurant. One Brian Hogan gained possession of the phone and began shopping it around to several tech publishers, supposedly including PCWorld (although a hasty newsroom poll revealed no e-mail or other contact from Hogan). Gizmodo bit, paying the 21-year-old Hogan $5000 (and perhaps more) for the phone. It then published a detailed preview of the device, garnering millions of page views in the process.

Then all .