Google’s Top Secret Nexus 4 Smartphone Found at a Bar

Google has rumored to be designing a smartphone with LG called the Nexus 4 that would become the flagship top of the line Android phone on the market. In fact, it’s rumored to be announced at a Google press event on Monday. So, of course there’s now a little scandal about what is thought to be the Nexus 4, a top secret and unannounced phone, was found at a bar.

Presumably what happened is a Google employee was given a Nexus 4 to field test. They went out to a bar and lost the phone. This seems like the most likely explanation. However, what’s more important is the only reason we know about the finding of the zone is that Google didn’t exactly handle this well.

What we actually know is this. A bartender at the 500 club in San Francisco’s mission district named Jamin Barton found the phone and realized it wasn’t a regular smartphone because it was branded with Google’s logo, had no SIM card, and have a big NOT FOR SALE sticker on it.

A regular named Dave told Barton that it was the Nexus 4 and that he’d contact Google so the Barton could give the phone back. Dave got back to Barton telling him that he just got someone fired and the Google police were coming and that they had threatened him with being an accessory to a crime or something.

Barton agreed to hand the phone over the next day at noon as long as whoever he handed the phone over to could prove they worked at Google. But Google had already sent out a member of its security team, who kept contacting Barton through Dave demanding the phone immediately. Barton rightly freaked out, feeling harassed, and cut his shift short to go play a gig (he’s a musician) elsewhere.

When the Google security employee arrived at the 500 Club he asked for Barton and then threatened Barton’s coworkers and the bar with legal action if they didn’t hand over the phone. The bartender on duty sent the security agent to the local police department where he ran into a lawyer who knew Barton and verified he worked for Google.

Barton handed over the phone and the security agent offered him a free phone in return for his silence. He didn’t take the deal.

“Don’t be evil” really is just a slogan isn’t it.

All the pictures and videos in this article were given to Wired (the source of this story) by Barton.

(h/t Geekosystem)