Pickpocket steals prototype Windows phone from Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo

A special prototype smartphone given to Telstra chief executive Sol Trujillo has been stolen by a pickpocket at the Mobile World Conference.

According to a report in News Limited papers, the phone – believed to be either the HTC Touch Pro2 or the HTC Touch Diamond2 – was given to Trujillo to test Microsoft’s new mobile phone operating system Windows Mobile 6.5.

The software is not due to be released until the end of the year and is so closely guarded that journalists were not even allowed to touch the new HTC phones when they were unveiled by Microsoft chief executive Steve Bullmer earlier this week.

A Telstra spokesman confirmed the phone was given to Trujillo, although he used the words “senior executive” to describe who was in possession of the mobile when it was nicked.

Security experts claim the theft may expose Microsoft to potential industrial espionage if the phone falls into the wrong hands and bugs are exposed before the final release of the software.

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