Comments on: Report: Palm Pre recognized by iTunes

Plug the new smartphone into your Mac and it is instantly recognized by iTunes, giving you the ability to sync your music, according to Forbes.

[Aaron Kempf]

we should sue Apple for abuse of monopoly power.. for silently installing Safari (without prompting) and for mandating closed systems

[anilsudh]

Do you even know what monopoly means.

[Editors' note: Personal attack deleted]

[thelemurking]

By monopoly you mean that they completely control the portable music player market and are the dominant force of digital music distribution? It's at the point where despite the maker or type of player it is, they are often referred to as iPods... exactly how internet search is now basically known as google... So I think it's safe to say that in the digital music world, Apple, does in fact have a monopoly.

Microsoft is in trouble with the EU for putting Internet Explorer in with Windows... but yet Apple puts Safari in with OS X... surely that's not fair to Opera, Firefox and other 3rd party browsers. Surely the EU will focus on that next. Apple has been under pressure by the EU for iTunes and DRM for a long time... now that Apple has removed most of it's DRM, the EU has sort of pulled their panties out of their crotch and moved back to Microsoft... but it is funny how Apple can do the same thing that Microsoft does and they get by with it, but Microsoft unleash all hell's fury when they do it.

[nickh2]

The difference being, you can remove Safari without breaking Mac OS X.

[DrtyDogg]

nickh2: Tired argument that isn't exactly correct.

[monkeyfun14]

@nickh2

And you can remove IE from Windows 7 well get rid of non essential files and traces of it.

[realkato]

"Apple has been very quick to jump on developers who have tried to circumvent its control over the iPod and iTunes in the past, and they could very well do it again." Not precisely accurate. Apple has been quick to jump on people who wanted to crack the FairPlay DRM. Palm does not appear to be doing that.

iTunes already recognizes many third-party MP3 players, and most music sold on iTunes now does not have FairPlay DRM. So I don't think this is terribly newsworthy.

[Mark_Anderson]

Exactly. Nokia phones have done this for years through iSync and Media Transfer.

[Tansho]

This ought to be interesting. How quickly will Crapple release the legal hounds on Palm for invading their precious iTunes, with something other than the ubiquitous iPod.

[Synthmeister]

No need for legal hounds. A simply iTunes update will suffice.

[FrostyTS]

Just a thought...won't Apple make money off of people that are still paying to download music from iTunes? I would think they would welcome other devices capable of using their music store.

[DrtyDogg]

As Apple has stated in the past, they make very little money on iTunes. The money comes from the hardware(iPod, iPhone)

[sirishgauni]

its not about making money from itunes, itunes helps apple sell ipods and iphones. its their software which gives them edge over the others why the hell would they share it with their competitors?

Come On... I love Zune Software much better than iTunes! I thought about getting Palm Pre for my birthday! What are you thinkin..? I understand that many people like iTunes, but there some do, some don't.. Zune is getting popular now..

[Synthmeister]

Except that the Wall Street Journal said that the Zune is headed towards zero market share right now.

[DrtyDogg]

where did it say that?

[Synthmeister]

Wall Street Jan 09: "at its much faster rate of decline, the Zune player looks like it's headed from low to no market share" (heading to Zero!)

[monkeyfun14]

@Synthmeiser

When did WSJ become a credible tech expertise?

[FrostyTS]

I'm pretty sure there will be more than one way to get music onto your Palm Pre. ;)
Sync'ing with iToons is just ear-candy for people addicted to iPods. It'll also keep iPhone fanboys from using the iToons store as a failure on Palm Pre's part.

[Chevaliermusic]

Doesn't really matter if it syncs with iTunes or not. I like/use iTunes but when I get my pre I'll get the audio on - no matter the app. Fortunately for me (and most users who thought ahead) they're libaries are (or can be converted to) mp3's. It would be nice to use iTunes since I'm familiar with it. But I don't really care. I'd rather have it work with iSync. (Which it may)

[stigmattaman]

OMG!!! I am shocked and flabbergasted by Jim's beard. Look at that thing!

iTunes sync is no big deal, as blackBerry smartphones have been able to do it for a while now. No DRM'd songs of course, but this isn't big news.

[eswinson]

My Creative Nomad Jukebox has synced with iTunes since 2001. It was very, very slow over usb 1.1 but it still worked.

[macmanmk--2008]

I could care less whether my music will sync to the Pre. Now if it will also sync my contacts and calendar as well, then we have a deal. I refuse to buy a device that will only sync my personal data via the cloud.

[bsorli]

Forget about the legal issues...how bout Apple just open to selling more songs and software and getting more of a cut then they do already. If Apple were smart, sometime you just have to wonder, they would allow anyone and everyone into iTunes to buy tracks, albums or whatever and generate sales.

Sorli...

[sirishgauni]

apple is not just a software company... itunes and ipod/iphones are one thing! get that first. apple makes more money from ipod/iphones then itunes. itunes help them get a market edge.

[seven7dust]

this is sweet for Mac users like me !
hopefully Apple lets it be !

[DrtyDogg]

It really doesn't effect Mac users like "you." You would never put down the iPhone until Lord Jobs tells you.

But yes it is good to know I will be able to sync my music with the pre from my Mac.

[seven7dust]

@drtydogg
So you can read my mind now ?

[deepen05]

if apple fights against this there is just something wrong with them. so what if another device is compatible with iTunes?? Apple should be happy that other devices work with their software.

If the want to prove that they have not monopolized the itunes/ipod exclusivity thing, then they should just stay put and let Palm do whatever they want.

I am an iPhone 3G owner myself, but all of my songs were downloaded from LimeWire, i have never bought a song in my life.

[sirishgauni]

@ deepen05 "I am an iPhone 3G owner myself, but all of my songs were downloaded from LimeWire, i have never bought a song in my life."
With 90% people stealing music like this i have no problem with DRM. people started crying about DRM just because they could no longer steal music! and these are the same people who cry about genetic research saying its immoral! makes a lot of sense!!!

[Vegaman_Dan]

I would expect if Palm becomes any sort of real threat of notice to Apple that they will start breaking iTunes for anything other than Apple products. We'll end up with another competition to see who can update/break their compatibility first.

[Dr_Garcia]

Why shouldn't apple prevent palm from potentially piggy-backing on itunes? They spent the time and money developing it.

If palm can develop the phone that is the next "iphone killer", surely they can come up with something better than itunes.....no?

[Maxwell Studly]

Zune is headed towards zero marketshare? Is this despite the fact that the Zune is #2 in HDD based mp3 players? If you're right I guess the Zune will have good company with Mac OS X and Linux market share. Zing!

[sirishgauni]

ipod's market share is over 70% while zune is less than 5%, though its still 2 ranked its a big consolation for you!
and comparing with mac share... ma already have 10% share, do your homework before you come over and post such comments

[monkeyfun14]

Who actually chooses to use iTunes though atleast on Windows anyways can't comment on the Mac version.

[sirishgauni]

you don't?!?!! OMG!!
itunes is one of the most popular music player for windows! and yeah not just for ipod users.

[Mister Winky]

Exactly. Whatever you may think about Apple, iPods or iTunes on a Mac, iTunes on Windows is just terrible. It is slow, doesn't make use of the WIndows interface controls and it can't handle large media collections without hanging insufferably, even on new PCs with ample resources.

The better alternative is MediaMonkey -- the basic version is free, it is very fast, it's excellent at populating metadata from sources in multiple countries and it is great at mass-editing metadata and other media management functions. It also handles every known media format: AAC, MP3, WAV, FLAC, OGG, WMA and plenty more.

Oh, and for you iPod fans -- it can sync music with iPods and plenty of other devices with no issues. It can even auto-covert media types on the fly when syncing (i.e. convert a FLAC album to MP3 for syncing to a portable player without affecting the source fles).

Basically, MediaMonkey rules. Just say no to iTunes on Windows.

-Mister Winky

[AppleSuxLeo]

Apple/Jobs WANTED proprietary DRM from the start in order to lock out any competition.
But Palm got the last laugh ! "Ruby" is a Genius !

[AppleSuxLeo]

Note to Apple...Be AFRAID...VERY AFRAID !!!
Ruby is gonna stick it to you !

[play7]

Its a good thing?...........................no thank you