Apple Hunts for Security Experts After Losing iPhone 5 Prototype

Apple Inc. began hiring security experts to help protect unreleased gadgets after the Cupertino company lost another valuable iPhone 5 prototype last week.

Apple listed two new job postings for New Product Security Managers on Sept. 1, according to PCMag. The candidate will be responsible for overseeing the protection of, and managing risks to, Apple's unreleased products and related intellectual property, said the post.

The job profile certainly mentioned that Apple is serious about the security of its future unreleased gadgets and that this is a response to its recent troubles from losing test products.

In addition, the positions require up to 30 percent travel both domestic and international but based at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. They are required to contribute to new security strategies apart from having the responsibility of maintaining the plans and procedures set forth by Apple's director of global security, according to PCMag.

Recently, an iPhone 5 prototype was allegedly lost in a San Francisco bar. This is the second time that an iPhone prototype went missing in a bar just before its release. But in April 2010, Apple was successful in getting the iPhone 4 prototype back after it had been sold by a finder.

This time Apple is apparently having a tough time getting back its iPhone 5, which was left in a Mexican restaurant in San Francisco and then was sold on Craiglist for $200, according to reports.

Meanwhile, according to speculation, if the iPhone 5 prototype has been given a trial run then surely the release date is round the corner, possibly in weeks. Rumors suggest that the phone might be launched either in September or October.

Take a look at the most-rumored iPhone 5 features:

Apple's iPhone 5 is expected to boast of significant hardware and software upgrades, along with an 8-megapixel dual-LED flash camera and A5 dual-core processor found in the iPad 2 to give stiff competition to other dual-core smartphones found in the market today.

Apple is rumored to increase the screen size of iPhone 5 to compete with Android smartphones, probably going for a bigger edge-to-edge 4-inch curved glass screen, compared to the current iPhone 4 screen of 3.5-inch with multi-touch display.

Apple may boost the speed of its A5 chip in the range of 1.2 or 1.5 GHz with 1GB RAM. The iPhone 5 would feature iCloud that will store photos, apps, calendars and documents instead of the phone's memory storage.

Apple is expected to release the iPhone 5 as a World Phone - both GSM and CDMA compatible. Another rumor suggested that the iPhone 5 will feature a SIM card slot for other countries except the U.S, allowing users to insert any SIM card when traveling abroad.

Apple may fit a near-field communication (NFC) chip in the iPhone 5 that allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and connections with a touch. But Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi cited that Apple will not adopt the NFC-based mobile payment feature in the upcoming iPhone 5 until Apple is convinced that the technology's chicken-and-egg-problem is solved, as the NFC requires widespread consumer adoption and critical mass with merchants.

Apple certainly knows how to surprise and already has a few things in place like iCloud which can steal the thunder from Android devices.

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