Looking at the amount of ex-Apple people working at Palm, this shouldn’t be a surprise: the Palm Pre works with iTunes on the Mac (not Windows), out-of-the-box. You can plug it, and the iTunes Store will treat as any iPod or iPhone. It obviously can’t handle iPhone applications, and songs encumbered with Apple’s DRM won’t work either, but for the rest you’re on your merry way. Apple didn’t want to comment on this little tidbit.
And things get just a little more interesting between the two companies…..
Will break with a point update.
Hey, Apple issued 70 MB updates one after the other to try prevent people creating free ringtones until they gave in. No reason not to do it here!
Now, as much as I like Apple, I’m cynical about Apple.
I’d like to believe that this is a crack in the ice and they’ll let Palm continue to sync and perhaps even open up more services.
It would be extremely nice, since we know they’re not thinking about the Linux/*BSD world, that Apple would allow all appropriate devices to use iTunes to sync.
Be realistic. iTunes exists to drive hardware sales for Apple.
Ex-NeXT/Ex-Apple employees at Palm are the only reason they are able to sync, for now.
This will be removed.
If it emulate perfectly an iPod classic, how can they break it without breaking iPod too? They have the engineer who made they iPod interface with them. I think, this time, it is very unlikely that apple will be able to do something about that. Except sue palm for using the iPod logo in iTunes.
Firmware updates to all the iPods. New iTunes version. Sue Palm under DMCA for reverse engineering their code.
Won’t fly, will it? They will claim an exemption under competition and interworking rule.
Still, lets hope Apple tries, and keeps trying, and expands their legal department. That brings closer the day when they will finally realize that suing the hell out of your customers and stopping them using your products how they want may be enormously entertaining, but it isn’t actually what you are in business for.
I want to see them sue in the UK and Germany too, and then appeal. Remember the last one of these hidings to nowhere they got into? Suing Microsoft on Windows? That nearly killed the company. This one is no different. These guys never learn.