Palm responds to Apple's warning

(Credit: Screenshot by Bonnie Cha/CNET)

On Tuesday, Apple issued a warning that it does not support iTunes synchronization with "non-Apple digital media players" and that future versions of the software may put an end to any such capability. While Apple didn't point any fingers, it's hard to believe the warning wasn't directed right at the Palm Pre, which shows up as an iPod when connected to iTunes and allows you to sync non-DRM media to the smartphone.

Palm isn't taking it lying down and has responded to Apple's threats. Speaking to John Paczkowski of the Wall Street Journal, Palm spokesperson Lynn Fox said:

Palm's media sync works with the current version of iTunes. If Apple chooses to disable media sync in a future version of iTunes, it will be a direct blow to their users who will be deprived of a seamless synchronization experience. However, people will have options. They can stay with the iTunes version that works to sync their music on their Pre, they can transfer the music via USB, and there are other third-party applications we could consider.

Also, as MyPre.com points out, Apple would have to specifically block the Pre since it shows up as an iPod and any casual changes to iTunes could affect legacy iPod support. Either way, things are getting pretty sticky. Apple, your move.

[rvassar]

Isn't there anything better to report? If Apple did not put up a notice about third party support, they would be getting sued because some idiot with a Palm Pre erased their music collection. Sort of like the notices on ladders telling us they are dangerous. Thank the lawyers and our wonderful legal system for this one.

[s2kca04]

another Apple junkie comes crawling out of the Apple to protect the thieves at Apple,what a surprise.
Steve Jobs just keep sticking it to everyone that uses his products (like new ipods every 6 months, new IPHONES
at about the same time frame,music that you downloaded and lost due to a hard drive crash that can no longer be replaced because their customer service people say those songs are no longer available,even though you are staring at it in the iTunes store) I'd rather get my music from a company that supports it's product 200% like amazon.
The best way to get the best of Mr.Jobs and his little seedlings is just have 5 friends open one account,you can then share the music between the 5 of you,yes there are many ways around the Mr.Jobs rules as far as music is concerned. NON ApPLE users just love stick it to everything Apple.......

[externallain]

I wouldn't think that Apple would have any sort of legal case against Palm. It would be like Microsoft suing Apple because the iPod syncs with Window Media Player (which it does, or at least it used to way back when I had a 2Gen iPod). I am pretty sure there are other MP3 players out there that can sync with iTunes, but Apples likes to make everything proprietary and they are lashing out now that a substantial competitor to the iPhone has flawless sync to iTunes.

[kelmon]

...by masquerading as an iPod, which is a trademark owned by Apple. If there is a legal case here then I feel it will be one about trademarks more than anything else.

[s2kca04]

It's not Palms fault that Apples software sees the PRE as an iPod thats Apples fault.
I once hooked up an older Motorola cell phone to my itunes account and Apple's software
saw that as an iPod. Apple and iTunes are just two of the companies I'd love to see buried by this
economy nothing would be a better going away present for Mr.robsus...errrr I mean Mr.Jobsus.

[mgombar]

If I was Microsoft, I would look at working with Palm and trying to get the Pre hooked up with the Zune Marketplace. If Microsoft could get Palm, RIM and Windows Mobile phones (and maybe Creative Labs and other players connected), then that would help build the Zune Marketplace.

[externallain]

I completely agree, especially with the rumors of a Zune Phone on the horizon.

[seven7dust]

but the zune is a meetoo product
it'll remain locked and closed always following in Apple's footsteps !

[Vegaman_Dan]

@Seven7dust:

"it'll remain locked and closed always following in Apple's footsteps ! "

I don't believe Microsoft has gone out of their way to intentionally disable another company's device as Apple has implied threats to do so here.

I certainly hope they do not follow Apple's lead in that area.

[Dalkorian]

Implied threats now Dan? Come on, you understand lawyerspeak better than that, don't you? Why do hair dryers have warning labels not to use them in the bathtub? Is it an implied threat against the consumer?

I don't understand Apple here. This has nothing to do with Apple being worried about being sued because somebody erased their music. Other MP3 players have been able to work with iTunes for a while. The Pre can only sync non-DRM'd files anyway. So, I would like Apple to answer why, if I use iTunes as my music solution should I not be able to use it to sync music files are aren't protected by your proprietary DRM?

If I rip a CD to my iTunes, why should Apple tell me I can't put that file on whatever device I want.

[Synthmeister]

You can take your ripped CD file from iTunes and drop it onto any device, including the Pre. I do it with my LG crap phone all the time.

[kelmon]

Question: why should Apple have to ensure that their software works with the Pre, which is essentially what Apple is saying that they don't need to do?

iTunes certainly used to support other devices but the APIs to do so, which Palm is NOT using, are old and also only support some pretty ancient hardware. Current devices that sync with iTunes do so using the "iTunes Library.xml" file and the files on your file system, which is what Palm ought to be doing themselves if they want to go down the route of unsanctioned support.

[Slick1of2]

This is one of the big reasons why I do not like Apple and why I will never buy an Apple product. They are like an awful teenager that thinks they are better than everyone else and refuse to work with others. Ugh! I hate arrogant people. Grow up Apple!

[weaselander]

Before we start comparing companies to "an awful teenager," why don't we just wait and see what Apple actually does. I think the problem here is that Palm was advertising that the Pre syncs with itunes, and Apple is just clarifying that they have nothing to do with this ability and that they are not responsible if it ever stops working or if bugs appear in the future. Having said that, I don't think Apple with disable this feature in the future, but they probably won't make sure that it plays nice either.

[Everlovin G]

DO NOT FEED THIS TROLL!

=^ )

@Slick1of2

[Synthmeister]

Problem is, Palm wanted the awful teenager to marry their favorite daughter and put an ad in the weddings and engagements column of the newspaper. When the awful teenager threaten to kick Palm's daughter to the curb after he had his fun Palm got all crotchety about it.

Palm should really have stricter controls on who their daughter dates.

[Slick1of2]

ROFL @ Synthmeister.

[s2kca04]

I agree with every word you wrote,I despise Apple and every product they produce.Mr.Jobs just keeps sticking it to his users and they just smile and say wow the iPhone I paid $499.00 for I could have bought cheaaper if only I didn't need to be the first one the line waiting for the store to open.
Slick you be da man!!!!!!!

[Goodbye Helicopter]

funny that it shows up as an iPod, there are no public APIs for that...
Palm is not doing well by trying to use unpublished APIs without some agreement.

[aeaglex07]

My thoughts exaclty

[dragonbite]

Nothing to see here... Apple just trying to maintain it's Monopoly and Vendor Lock-In.

[vermonster59]

I disagree. I thinkit's like weaselander said:
by weaselander June 17, 2009 12:05 PM PDT
"I think the problem here is that Palm was advertising that the Pre syncs with itunes, and Apple is just clarifying that they have nothing to do with this ability and that they are not responsible if it ever stops working or if bugs appear in the future."

[jbcahill]

What "monopoly" is that? You're free to buy any media player you want. You're free to buy mp3's from anywhere you want. Every music player is tethered to a particular music store. Does Microsoft have a "monopoly" because the Zune is tied to the Microsoft Market Place?

[bankerdanny]

Every music player is NOT tied to a particular market. My Creative Zen Vision M can download music from pretty much any source. I haven't tried it with iTunes because I actively dislike Apple's DRM stance.

[seven7dust]

Wonder how you MSFT fanboys call monopoly here but when it comes to Windows it somehow isnt !
BTW have you looked at the Zune same DRM same Syncing ,basically the same thing
it's the same with Nokia phones and othercompanies as well
Imagine how Nokia would feel if some one started using their Pc suite software for their own phones ?

[Dalkorian]

by bankerdanny June 17, 2009 1:36 PM PDT
I haven't tried it with iTunes because I actively dislike Apple's DRM stance.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

So you're a fan of DRM then? You actively dislike the stance of the company that called for the banishment of DRM. Quoting Steve Jobs himself:

"Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat. If the big four music companies would license Apple their music without the requirement that it be protected with a DRM, we would switch to selling only DRM-free music on our iTunes store. Every iPod ever made will play this DRM-free music."

source: http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/

Argue from knowledge, argue from hatred if you must, but don't argue from ignorance.

[Synthmeister]

Nothing to see is right. Palm should know better than to let someone else, especially Apple, have ANY say in the Pre user experience.

[aeaglex07]

HAHa WOW Palm has some b*lls. Too bad they have no software of their own for their customers. LOL piggybacking off of iTunes is one thing, but do they seriously think they're on the high road here? what a joke, its pathetic, almost as pathetic as their crappy phone LOL

[seven7dust]

unfortunately transferring the itunes library to other players like song bird isnt easy
but I dont think Apple can really stop the itunes integration , cause it will look bad on Apple's part !

[Synthmeister]

That's why Palm should create software that automatically sucks the appropriate files out of iTunes and into their syncing solution. Figuring out where iTunes stores files is really not that hard. In fact, you can drag your entire iTunes library directly from iTunes on to a desktop folder. I do it all the time.

As a Pre owner I was impressed that the Media Sync mode worked so easily with iTunes, but I only tried it out for grins. I'm not a fan of iTunes and only use it when I cannot find a particular album or song on Amazon or Real or any other open MP3 marketplace first.

I use J. River Media Center to manage my media and sync with my devices, and I was able to set it up to sync with my Pre without much difficulty. Setup was a manual process, but now syncing is automated, and that's a small price to pay to use my applications with my devices and my music as I see fit.

[ChukchansiDan]

I think the user who suggested Palm sync to the Zune Marketplace is a great idea --- and what I want to know, is why wouldn't apple let me connect to iTunes, and *the STORE* and sell more .99-1.29 music? The more users that can acess, the more money can be made, so what gives? (Although Zune Marketplace is $14.99 a month, unlimited downloads, and every month you can "keep" (un DRM) 10 items you've downloaded...

[Synthmeister]

So you would rather be dependent on MS instead of Apple? Wow.

Once again, I have to say that Palm is simply foolish to allow any strategic aspect of the Pre user experience to be tied to anyone else except Palm.

[Hellcat]

I agree, Microsoft lets Apple and Linux connect to exchange so why not let any media player connect to the Zune Marketplace? It would mean more money for Microsoft, people buying music and such from them.

Also I wonder if you can use programs like Media Monkey with the Pre. I actually prefer Media Monkey and I use it with my Ipod instead of itunes...I don't even have itunes on my computer.

[kelmon]

Microsoft lets Apple and Linux connect to Exchange because they have bought a license to do so. If Palm was smart then it should negotiate the same with Apple for official support in iTunes. There is no indication that they have attempted to do so and rather have applied their "l33t" hacking skills instead, presumably based on the knowledge that the Pre development team has of how iPods and the iPhone interface with iTunes.

[useful_worms]

just as weaselander said, this is just Apple clarifying that they don't officially support 3rd party devices. Since Palm advertised that the Pre syncs with iTunes, Apple had to issue a statement in case some idiot starts blaming Apple because his music won't play on the Pre.

I guess Palm needed to create another reason to buy the Pre. It's kind of sad that iTunes functionality is the best they could come up with.

[TheMatthews27]

Apple uses the iTunes Store to sell iPods and iPhones. If the Pre is allowed to sync with iTunes, then Apple will sell fewer of their products.

There will probably be a minor update to the iTunes software later this year to disable syncing with the Pre. That's my two cents on the matter.

[Michaelxxxxxx]

And this is why I'll never be one of the "Pod People"

[cnote1287]

The only reason Apple is having a fit about the pre is because the pre is against the iphone, in otherwards a direct apple competitor. other devices such as the random mp3 plays and the forementioned old phone that worked were no threat to apple. by disabling the pre, apple gives consumers another reason to switch to the iphone instead.....because it "works"

all apple is doing is trying to play dirty again palm. first the threatening to sue them over multitouch, now this. i wonder whats next.

[Hellcat]

Microsoft lets Apple and Linux connect to Exchange because they have bought a license to do so. If Palm was smart then it should negotiate the same with Apple for official support in iTunes. There is no indication that they have attempted to do so and rather have applied their "l33t" hacking skills instead, presumably based on the knowledge that the Pre development team has of how iPods and the iPhone interface with iTunes.

True BUT Microsoft doesn't make money off of people using exchange except for the money that is paid to them for the license. People using the Pre would buy music, shows, books and such from the itunes store so it would be only a win for them to let the Pre use itunes. Now Palm should just point people toward other programs like Media Monkey and Songbird, sure they won't be able to buy music and such but at least they can use them to sync with the Pre.

[hd07307]

I think this is just another example on how Apple treats their customer base. My room mate is a hard core Apple user who will defend it's business practices along with every product to come out of the corporation with die hard enthusiasm and loyalty. However, Apple user seem to get the short end of the stick time and time again. I use both Microsoft and Apple products in my daily life and enjoy what both companies have to offer. I feel at home on a Mac and on a PC. However, this seems to be much more than just an OS preference or brand loyalty.

What is the point of this? Well, it's obvious that Apple feels threatened by what the Palm Pre could mean to their market as a competitor to their precious iPhone. Compatibility issues with Macs is as old as time itself and we can't help but to realize that it is done with full intention. Apple user are blinded by their shiny new toy and can't see how this company is exploiting every dollar that they have. Who cares if the Pre can sync with iTunes?

Apple users need to stop defending a company that is essentially stealing money from them in any way that they can and stand up for their user-base. Until that happens, Apple will continue the arrogant, selfish path that they are on.

[joeshmoefromoregon]

To me this is just silly win the battle but loose the war type stuff. The more devices that can use itunes the more money itunes makes for apple.This were not going to share with you attitude leads more people away from apple products and service. Makes apple look petty and arogant . An it always seems the apple customers are left to bear the brunt of things. Att sticks it to there iphone costomers with there priceing and fees. Some compition for apple might just be what the doctor orderd

[Michaelxxxxxx]

is it really news to any of you that iTunes is not the only place to get music? Mercy.