Top-secret Microsoft prototype stolen in Barcelona
Here's the risk you take holding the cellphone industry's annual gathering in Barcelona, a city famous for its world class pickpockets.
Only hours after Microsoft (MSFT) announced the launch of Windows Mobile 6.5 — the software giant's answer to Apple's (AAPL) iPhone and Google's (GOOG) Android — a prototype phone loaded with a top-secret copy of the new software was lifted from an executive's pocket, the London Telegraph reported Thursday.
Microsoft was "in a panic," according to this report, fearing industrial espionage.
The phone had reportedly been loaned to the CEO of Telstra, the Australian telecommunications giant, to test before launch. He, in turn, handed it to an unnamed executive, who was apparently pickpocketed that evening. According to the Telegraph:
"A spokesman for the Australian company confirmed the theft had happened. 'One of our product executives was given the phone to test the system. He had it with him at an organised evening event and it was stolen from him – we don't know by whom.'" (link)
Microsoft declined to comment on the report.
Barcelona's professional pickpockets often travel in groups and are experts at misdirection. They tend to target tourists and business travelers, confident that if they are caught their victims are unlikely to stick around long enough to appear in court as witnesses against them.
According to the Telegraph report, there have been repeated incidents of theft at this year's Mobile World Congress, which ends today. The event's organizers have reportedly threatened the Mayor of Barcelona to move it to another venue if the city does not do something to reduce the level of street crime.
Disclosure: The author lost his wallet in Barcelona last summer.
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No need to worry about industrial espionage — it's a Microsoft product, so it doesn't well enough for anybody to learn anything from it.
I am French citizen right now living in NY since the beginning of the year and this article is simply false or ignorant or how the last post, there are some dark interests to influence some change in the location of this important event. What is really funny that this kind of strategies come from a American media, a country famous for being the worse regarding crime among the industralized group of countries. I know Barcelona pretty well because I have worked for many years and the pick-pockets are as usual than Paris where I have also worked, not much different. Barcelona has this event because right now is the city star where any European executive would like to live, there a few cities that can show what Barcelona has (crime, dynamism, culture, class…). NY is nothing compared with Barcelona. I know what I am talking about.
Really sad…who's asleep at the wheel in editorial at Fortune. If this article was written about some other area in the world, like an urban area in America there would be hell to pay. Is there some kind of underlying message about the nature of the audience that reads Fortune. You do realize that bigotry is similar to addiction in that the mechanism never really goes away…it just goes from one focus to another.
So, Fortune, honestly, what exactly is the message that you're trying to send here?
Moderator, fascinating report no, simply real versus urban legends that are supported for scared Americans (funny though coming from people that live in one of the worse places in the world regarding crime).
Typical Spain/South Europe type of nightlife: very civilized approach to alcohol, people go out LATE (10, even 11PM) and everybody out and about in the evenings when the weather is nice, from little kids to grandmas and grandpas. The people are great, although keep in mind, being a big city, there’s the occasional oddball.
As for crime: pickpockets can be a problem, and the city has its “pockets” (but nothing as notorious as US cities), but violent crime is low, certainly lower than New York, Chicago, and London. There is a perceived spike in crime – real or not – that has shocked Spanish society. Do exercize regular precautions as you would back home. Spain overall is one of Western Europe’s (abd the world’s) safest countries, but you will hear a couple horror stories…don’t let this scare you, as a the world’s second most popular country for tourists is bound to have a few people leave with a bad experience (58 million tourists visited Spain in 2008 alone, second in the world behind France). Again, just exercize common sense. If you’re a chick, I always advise women – no matter where they are in the world – not to walk alone late at night in any big city, unless you will only be walking in well-lit peopled areas.
Beaches are very decent for a big city. To the north and to the south of the city, along Catalunya’s Mediterranean coast are some great beach towns. Also, the great beach towns of Valencia region and the Balaeric Islands are never too far away either.
God I hated Barcelona when I was there too. We were in a indoors aquarium and I lost my iPod 20gb there! 
(
I dont believe that pickpocketing is worse in the rest of the Europe, had several visits in Istanbul and Rome, never had the same problem!
Spain safer place in Europe, official statistics. I don't understand journalism without documentation and simply personal perception.
ex ped: Fascinating report. But where does it say anything about Barcelona?
I've lived in Barcelona 7 years and would agree that the pick pocketing situation here is worse than in 90% of the world. You're putting your head in the sand if you're from here and say this isn't true. You probably live in the swanky neighborhoods. But if you spend time in the old city you will get robbed. 100% (100%!) of my friends have been robbed here. Last one girlfriend had her iPod ripped out of her pocket.
It's not violent crime but it is street crime.
I'm living in Barcelona and the level of "street crime" is the same as in any other city. This article is over-exaggerated.
I am sorry because you lost your wallet in Barcelona but your tendentious article, full of personal references is simply bad journalism. Because you had a bad experience in my city not for that you have the right to do such a wrong statments like "if the city does not do something to reduce the level of street crime".. I don't know your nationality but before talking on this uniformed way please document yourself and you will discover how Barcelona comparing the crime local, national or international statistics (FBI, Interpol…) has far lower crime than any other major European capital (London, Paris or Rome) and of course we don't reach the level of "civilized" American cities (NY or LA) where in a one week there are more robberies or murderers that in a whole year in my city.
I am from Barcelona as you can imagine but since 2007 living in the States, and there we can have pickpockets (this is not racism but almost exclusively controlled for East European mafias, Romanian basically) , here simply you have (Interpool, CIA…) 7 times more chances to die in a gunshot or suffer a violent robbery…you choose my friend.
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ex ped: I knew it was probably a mistake to include that personal disclosure. You are right, it's bad journalism. But this is a blog, where the rules are little different.
I'm not going to defend America's record of violent crime here; this is a violent country in which the right to bear arms is written into the Constitution. But the first step in dealing with crime is to recognize you have a problem. I wonder if people from Barcelona, because they are not being targeted by pickpockets, have trouble seeing how bad the situation is for travelers. I love Barcelona. It's a beautiful, vibrant city. But there's a reason women walk down Las Ramblas with their pocketbooks tightly clutched to their chests.
As for your comparative crime statistics, it would be helpful if you provided sources for your claim that Barcelona has a lower rate of street crime than Paris, London or Rome. The FBI does not track the crime rates of foreign cities, and as near as I can tell, Interpol does not make its data available online.
Clearly, it was stolen by Apple. They want to reverse engineer the new "honeycomb" UI for iPhone OS 3.0
When will Apple stop copying Microsoft!!!
HaHa, this makes me laugh. Once there I was standing in a crowded train station and those pick pockets had nearly finished cutting my pants off of me.
If the police hadn't swooped in and grabbed them I'd been standing in a crowded train station with no pants and none the wiser!
A desperate PR stunt, anyone? What kind of "top-secret prototype" is passed from hand to hand in a crowded congress venue famous for its talented pickpockets? Give me a break!
Soon we'll start hearing rumours of revolutionary, super-advanced new features of WinMob that were not meant to be disclosed just yet because they are so revolutionary and super-advanced and top-secret…
Microsoft is desperate to gain some mindshare and conceal the fact that they are clueless in this new market situation. They could, of course, help that by adding some quality and innovation to their products. But that would take years and is not very Microsoft-ish anyways.
LOL…nice disclosure.
Is that why "Barcelona's professional pickpockets often travel in groups and are experts at misdirection," because I'm sure the you couldn't possibly have been pick-pocketed by an amateur, eh?
ex ped: I don't know about that, but these were four very scary dudes and I don't think this was their maiden voyage.
Visited Spain, when we were robbed and my wife's passport stolen, question on application for temporary passport was were you a victim of the flat tire scam? The answer was yes. If I had been aware of the problem before I went to Spain, I would not have been a Victim. We need more articles like this one letting people know of problems peculiar to every country.