Apple iTunes To Palm Pre: Talk To The Hand

Apple iTunes is giving the touch-screen Palm Pre the cold shoulder with its latest version, cutting out the smartphone's ability to sync with the widely popular digital media distribution software.

It's no secret that the Apple iPhone 3G S and the Palm Pre, two of the summer's hottest new smartphones, are embroiled in a new clash of the touch-screen titans as the two devices square off for smartphone dominance. Before iTunes updated to version 8.2.1, the Palm Pre used software wizardry to back door integration with Apple iTunes through a Media Sync feature in the smartphone's webOS.

Essentially, Palm Pre owners could use a USB cable to sync music, video and playlists directly from iTunes to the Palm Pre smartphone by tricking iTunes into believing the Pre is an iPhone or iPod. One caveat was that the Palm Media Sync feature supported only DRM-free music.

But an Apple spokesman told the The Wall Street Journal that the new Apple iTunes update to version 8.2.1 "disables devices falsely pretending to be iPods" or iPhones including the Palm Pre. The fix in iTunes 8.2.1 addresses an issue with verification of Apple devices. Basically, that means if you're not an iPhone or an iPod, get lost.

The Pre had been able to access iTunes since it officially hit stores on June 6, but questions remained over whether Apple had given Palm permission. Apparently, Palm did not have Apple's consent, which is not surprising considering the Palm Pre is considered one of the Apple iPhone's strongest new competitors.

"As we've said before, newer versions of Apple's iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with unsupported digital media players," the Apple spokesman told The Journal.

The ability to download music and video from Apple iTunes had been a strong selling point for the Pre, as it was one of just a few devices aside from an Apple iPhone or iPod to be able to sync with the popular digital music and video market place.

"If Apple chooses to disable media sync in iTunes, it will be a direct blow to their users who will be deprived of a seamless synchronization experience," Palm spokesman Lynn Fox told The Journal, adding that Palm Pre users will have other options to sync their smartphones with iTunes, including using older iTunes versions that still work with the Palm Pre.

Palm Pre users can also still manually drag and drop their music files into the smartphone's memory by using the Pre as a USB device, but it lacks the convenience of syncing with iTunes.