Unless you’ve been living under a figurative rock for the last few weeks, you’ve heard so many rumors, speculation and allegations regarding the 4th-Gen iPhone, Engadget, Gizmodo and Apple that you’re not sure what to believe. I’m with you. For those out of the loop, here is a quick recap:

On April 17, Engadget reported that they had been sent pics of the prototype iPhone. Supposedly it had been left in a San Jose bar and the photos were now being sent to various tech outlets, possibly looking for the highest bidder on the device. Engadget didn’t bite, but Gizmodo did – reportedly paying $5,000 for it. Then on April 19, Gizmodo posted the scoop on the site with the title “This is Apple’s Next iPhone.” All heck broke loose. Finger pointing and threatened lawsuits ensued. You know, the normal big tech company vs. the “we’re just doing our jobs” news/blogging outlet war.

Here’s my question, and what we posed as a Twitter Poll over the last day “Apple/Gizmodo iPhone 4.0 Debate: PR stunt or Lucky Break?” Was this a MAJOR slip-up on the part of Apple and one of its software engineers, Gray Powell, which caused so much media attention regarding the possible next generation iPhone or was it purely an elaborate ploy to create a huge marketing buzz before the device hits the market later this year? We put the question to the test and here are the results of our poll (courtesy of Twtpoll):

•    56% – Lucky Break: One man’s trash is Gizmodo’s treasure
•    42% – PR Stunt: Conspiracy Theory, Apple is totally in on it
•    3% – Wait, what happened?

The results are somewhat split, so what’s your take? If this was a PR stunt, we here at BLASTmedia say “hats off to you, Apple.” This would go down as one of the biggest PR stunts ever. If it was a mistake, this is a birthday that Mr. Powell will never forget. Either way, it’s definitely an interesting story and future case study for many years to come.

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