Microsoft sent an Xbox One console prototype to a random person two months before its reveal. Beta versions of the console were stored in open and less secure part of a shipping facility.
According to Business Insider, the incident happened in March 2013, which was exactly two months before the launching of the original Xbox One console. The random person that got the package found out that he got an Xbox One prototype.
25 years old Jia Li ordered a new laptop from the Microsoft Store website for his personal purposes. When the package arrived at his home, he noticed that it had a security tape on the box. He said to the publication that he wondered what was inside, and was shocked when he opened it.
Inside the box was the prototype version of the Xbox One. The console system had a zebra pattern on it, which is a common practice in the tech industry. This makes it difficult for spies to photograph secret prototypes of gadgets.
Writer Ben Gilbert wrote that this was an attempt to throw off the manufacturer's own employees. They put the beta versions of the consoles in the open and in a less than secure part of a Microsoft shipping facility. They confirmed that this is where they accidentally shipped the prototype instead of the laptop that Li ordered.
Gilbert said that maybe the wrong shipping label got put on the box with the prototype in it. He also said that it must have been a computer glitch that switched the item orders.
The other contents of the box aside from the prototype were some paperwork and international plugs for the console. The problem was that there was no controller or a Kinect camera. The package had power and TV plugs, which he could use to turn on the system.
When the console turned on, the boot-up screen showed the word Kryptos. This was a secret code name for the console.
Gilbert told Kotaku that after receiving the prototype, Li wanted to either sell it or return it to Microsoft to get the laptop back. Gilbert was working at Engadget during that year and they did not want to buy it. They facilitated in returning the box to the manufacturer in exchange for an exclusive, early access to the console.
Microsoft gave a condition to the publication that they should not write about the story of them losing the prototype. Gilbert is no longer working at his previous publication and the others involved were also not working there anymore. They felt that it was the right time to publish the story.
The manufacturer sent a representative to Li's home to retrieve the console. To compensate for the mix up, he was given a new Xbox 360 and Kinect. He also got back the laptop that he ordered.
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