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iTunes 9 kills Palm Pre syncing again

10 September 2009 20:04 by James "Dela" Delahunty | 10 comments

As predicted, Apple blocked the use of the Palm Pre with iTunes in the latest update for the multimedia application, iTunes 9. Previously, Apple had locked out the Pre handset from iTunes with the iTunes 8.2.1 update. Following the initial block, Palm restored the syncing abilities with the WebOS 1.1.0 update.

The cat and mouse game looks set to continue however, as the Pre is getting a WebOS 1.2 update in the near-future. Before the Pre launched, Palm announced that the new handset would be capable of syncing with the iTunes software. An Apple statement followed, promising that the syncing ability with the Pre won't last very long. It was two months after the launch when Apple blocked it.

Palm wasn't going to sit still over the issue however, and a wrote a letter of protest to the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), the non-profit organization that maintains the Universal Serial Bus (USB) specification and promotes the interface. Apple had blocked the Pre from syncing with iTunes by checking the idVendor descriptor when connected.

The Palm letter informed USB-IF of the WebOS update, which would change the Pre's Vendor ID to the same as Apple's in order to regain iTunes support. "Interoperability is central to any standard-setting organization," the letter read, "because, without widespread interoperability, many of the benefits of standardized (as opposed to proprietary) technologies are lost."

Unless USB-IF intervenes in the situation, this cat and mouse game of blocking and regaining Pre-iTunes support with software updates could continue for some time.

Permalink to this article | Topics: Gadgets Phones

Palm delays webOS 1.2, Pre-iTunes sync to be restored? (28 September 2009)

Palm Pre to hit UK on October 16th (24 September 2009)

USB-IF sides with Apple in Pre-iTunes dispute (23 September 2009)

GSM Palm Pre coming soon (20 September 2009)

Apple slashes price of Apple TV, kills 40GB version (14 September 2009)

New iPod Touch has 802.11n chip, space for nano-like video camera (12 September 2009)

Apple fixes 47 bugs in iPhone, Mac and QuickTime (11 September 2009)

Palm Pre price cut expected soon (8 September 2009)

Palm Pre headed to Canada (28 August 2009)

Palm collects GPS location data from Pre users (13 August 2009)

Palm writes to USB-IF over iTunes Pre block (5 August 2009)

Palm Pre headed to Verizon next year (29 July 2009)

$99 Pre at Best Buy was an error (26 July 2009)

Apple blocks Palm Pre with iTunes update (15 July 2009)

Palm Pre selling well (30 June 2009)

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Discuss this article!
KillerBug (Senior Member) 10 September 2009 23:54
All the more reason to hate iTunes. [ + quote]
lamain (Newbie) 11 September 2009 0:18
*Quote:* All the more reason to hate iTunes. All the more reason to hate Apple. This is not the only time Apple has done things that hurt there own customers. [ + quote]
MrXenu (Newbie) 11 September 2009 4:27
This is why I hate Apple more than M$ and will always refuse to buy any Apple products. Surely this is illegal, as its blocking a competitors product from using your software, so your own product has an advantage. Didn't this once happen to Apple, where M$ didn't release Microsoft Office on Apple, and competition laws forced M$ to release it for Mac's. Well whats going on is an even more blatent infringement on competition laws. Apple did something like this a few months ago with the skype application. Yet they recieve no punishment. Whenever M$ do something like this its auto fist of justice from any goverment or any other major company, yet Apple always manage to get away with it. [ + quote]
ak472009 (Newbie) 11 September 2009 6:20
hey steve jobs if you are reading this , then i am letting u know i will never buy apple products if y'all continue to be dumb like this, just because palm pre is better than iphone, don't act like a jealous little girl [ + quote]
ren97 (Newbie) 11 September 2009 10:51
I'm sure everyone here realizes this but if you don't update Itunes and you have auto update off the pre continues to sync normally. Just a heads up for pre owners. I would never buy an ipod but having a pre function as one is excellent! [ + quote]
emugamer (Member) 11 September 2009 12:09
I don't have a pre, but this news combined with the iPod Touch let-down has officially turned me into an Apple hater. Once my iPod dies, I'm picking an alternative mp3 player. They're not getting any of my money ever again. [ + quote]
Bozobub (Newbie) 11 September 2009 12:12
*Originally posted by MrXenu:* Didn't this once happen to Apple, where M$ didn't release Microsoft Office on Apple, and competition laws forced M$ to release it for Mac's. No. In fact, the cornerstones of Office (Word and Excel) were originally exclusively available only for Macs. [ + quote]
TBandit (Member) 12 September 2009 2:32
Why would you deny your consumers iTunes on another platform when those could be sales? [ + quote]
alexeemo (Newbie) 12 September 2009 12:00
*Originally posted by ak472009:* hey steve jobs if you are reading this , then i am letting u know i will never buy apple products if y'all continue to be dumb like this, just because palm pre is better than iphone, don't act like a jealous little girl I agree with everyone above. This bs would seriously piss me off if I owned an a palm and had purchased songs from iTunes. Another reason I didn't buy the iPod. Overpriced anyways. Apple can stick it where the sun doesn't shine. [ + quote]
mscritsm (Newbie) 16 September 2009 1:49
Palm's whining to USB-IF is a joke. It's just an industry organization and has no real power over its members other than moral suasion. The most it can do is kick someone out, but that won't stop them from implementing the USB interface any way they want. Apple is under no obligation to support devices it doesn't make. If a customer with a Pre calls up with a syncing issue, why should Apple have to go through the headache of figuring out if it's a iTunes or Pre issue? And even if it's a Pre issue, often the customer will blame Apple anyway. [ + quote]