Palm snubs Apple, USB-IF, adds iTunes 9 sync support to Pre

Robert Hallock (Thrax) Palm defies reprimand from Palm and USB's overseer to once again again again restore iTunes sync support to the Pre.

October 3, 2009 3:48 PM ET in News, , , , , ,

palmlogoAgainst the wishes of both Apple and the USB Implementers Forum, Palm has once again updated the Pre to sync with iTunes.

Palm released today WebOS version 1.20.1 and, amongst fixes to Exchange support, cheekily “[resolved] an issue preventing media sync from working with latest version of iTunes (9.0.1).”

The fix, according to the PreCentral blog, is another round of iPod mimicry. According to their report, the Pre now masquerades as an iPod Video when connected to iTunes for syncing.

Here’s what your computer sees when you set your Pre to Media Sync Mode (changes from webOS 1.2.0 and previous in bold):
USB Product ID: 0×1209
USB Vendor ID: 0×05ac (Apple, Inc)
Manufacturer: Apple Inc.

With Palm now moving against the wishes of both Apple and USB’s overseer, it is not immediately clear what happens next in this humorous game of cat and mouse.

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5 Comments:

  1. chrisWhite
    3 Oct '09, 4:02 pm

    'effing awesome. So happy to see Palm just say screw it and go for it.

  2. Lincoln
    3 Oct '09, 4:43 pm

    What happens is I give 'em a high five and smile over my morning cup of tea.

  3. Daniel
    3 Oct '09, 6:08 pm

    As long as Palm isn't doing something illegal I have no qualms with them kicking apple in the nuts. Though it would be preferable if they chose to use a free and open alternative like Songbird (which rocks imho and the only reason I'm not using it more often is the shackles from my iphone, shakes fist at apple).

  4. chrisWhite
    4 Oct '09, 2:16 pm

    Interesting take:

    You see, Palm doesn't need the iTunes app to sync the Pre. They don't need to draw Apple's ire, or play yo-yo with their customers over this important capability. They can sync the Pre to a customer's iTunes music library with a public, open, and documented approach that has been used by third-party developers and device makers for years. This capability was created by none other than Apple itself
    Clearly, other companies know how to sync painlessly with iTunes music (see RIM's Blackberry Media Sync for example), so why doesn't Palm develop a syncing solution for their own hardware? The exact reason is unknown, but my guess is that it's a combination of things. Perhaps Palm doesn't have the resources to develop their own sync app. Or maybe they want some publicity. Or maybe they just want to push Apple's buttons. Who really knows. But I seriously question the strategy and brains of any company that ties critical product capabilities to the unsupported use of their competitor's software. I mean, really? Can it get any more ridiculous? Can you possibly send a more mixed, less confidence-inspiring, "we're a bunch of hacks who can't provide our own sync software for our products" message to customers?

    Full post

  5. ardichoke
    4 Oct '09, 6:32 pm

    Interesting take, yes. I'll put in my 2 cents as to why they are doing it though, making a 3rd party app to do something that's built into iTunes is unnecessary bloat and it adds another layer that can break. It's freaking pointless to add another application to your computer simply to duplicate a feature built into iTunes already which Apple has simply locked everyone else out of. Doing things the way they are reduces complexity, saves (an admittedly minuscule) amount of disk space and means that you have one less service that has to be running. Kudos to Palm and to Apple I say open your iTunes sync up! Release an open sync API and let any device that conforms to it sync with your software. People will still buy the iPod because it's trendy and you'll open the iTunes store up to people like me that don't want an iPod anyway but aren't against the idea of using iTunes if it supports the hardware we do decide to buy.

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