The Mac Strikes Back: Episode 3 - Breaking Pre Sync, Again

It's not to be unexpected but again, Apple decides to cut the cord that syncs Palm Pre to iTunes. Perhaps this is the reason the webOS update has been delayed allowing time for Palm to perform some last minute tweaks to get a work-around once again, for the Palm Pre.

Comments

[Don]

Palm hypocritically went after someone for posting FREE Pre themes for Nokia phones, and yet Palm, no doubt, will try to make Apple the bad guy here. Apple didn't create iTunes for it's competitor's - let them, including Palm, create their own syncing software!

If the Pre and Palm is such a fantastic and innovative company, and the Pre is such a great phone, then it shouldn't be much of a problem to create their own syncing software rather than trying to ride on the coattails of it's competitors.

[Brian]

@Don:

1) Palm has it's own syncing software with WebOS. In fact, it's got two syncing solutions, not counting the USB drive access and the iTunes hack.

2) Palm objects to the Pre themes because the Pre themes are copyrighted. Palm isn't violating any copyright (or any other law) with its iTunes access option.

3) It's Apple's half-ass implementation of iTunes "security" that allows Palm to do this in the first place. They could lock it up in ~ 10 seconds of coding if they really wanted to badly enough. Basically, it would take 3 steps:

1) Create a key.
2) Create an algorithm that asks for the key.
3) Send out a firmware update that includes the key.

Instead, they just change iTunes to ask for a different piece of the USB spec. The problem is, the only metadata that's going to do them any good in the USB spec is the DeviceID. And that would mean they'd have to code for every version of iPod (including Nanos, Shuffles, etc.), iPhone (original, 3G, 3GS), and AppleTV.

Ultimately, Apple will either have to relent, or get serious.