Apple Blocks Palm Pre Syncing With iTunes

By Jane McEntegart
published

One of the cool things about the Palm Pre was that it synced seamlessly with iTunes. Well, not anymore.

Reports first got out in late-May that when plugged into your computer, your brand new Palm Pre would play super-nice with your iTunes. Everyone said the same thing: Apple cannot be pleased. That said, it looked like the Cupertino-based company was going to let this one slide. After all, here we were two months later and everything was all good in the hood. Until yesterday.

Apple released iTunes 8.2.1 and lo and behold, it addressed "an issue with verification of Apple devices." Yeah, you got it, if it ain't Apple, it ain't right. Or something. Either way, Pre fans were up in arms, though it's not like they couldn't have seen it coming. Fair is fair, right?

Apple went one step further following the release of 8.2.1, which actually got the message across just fine. The company said, "It also disables devices falsely pretending to be iPods, including the Palm Pre. As we’ve said before, newer versions of Apple’s iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with unsupported digital media players," in a statement according to BusinessWeek.

A spokespalm told BW that users who really want the seamless synchronization with iTunes should just stick with an older version of iTunes. “Palm’s media sync works with iTunes 8.2. 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. 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 can consider.”

Jane McEntegart
Topics
Software
30 Comments Comment from the forums
  • dman3k
    Stop using iTunes. iTunes suck.
    Reply
  • HolyCrusader
    It's things like this that continuously turns me away from Apple products - and the Apple Tax.
    Reply
  • Kill@dor
    Apple has issues, i thought everyone knew this already. If they don't have a hand in it ($$$$)...its not going to fly!
    Reply
  • thejerk
    Didn't the old Motorola L7 also sync with iTunes?

    I take it that shit the bed, too? LOL...
    Reply
  • Honis
    The way Palm has been releasing updates for the Pre, I'd say we'll have an update countering this by next Thursday. Really the only true way to make iTunes only sync with Apple products is to have a list of all serial numbers in iTunes and request the serial number from the device when it connects. Even then Palm can give all the devices a single serial number from any of the millions of Pod products sold.

    Why are people using iTunes anyway? The only thing it has is the App Store which you probably wont use if you own a Pre.
    Reply
  • tipoo
    Itunes is a stinking pile of shit anyways.
    Reply
  • falconqc
    When will people wake up and realize that Apple has gone rotten a long time ago? Come to think of it, it was already starting to go bad from day one.
    Reply
  • The_Blood_Raven
    It's not exactly Apple's fault...

    As for the Pre Palm users, this is a great thing! They will now be able to find an actual good alternative to iTunes such as Mediamonkey or they could organize their files themselves and do a far better job than iTunes will ever do. Not to mention their computers will run faster without all of those unnecessary processes that come with iTunes.
    Reply
  • stromm
    Wait, people are getting upset because a loophole was closed? Buying a product from company 1 and expecting company 2 to support it (without getting paid for it) is stupid. But, too many people nowadays think that everyone else should give them whatever they want.

    However, Apple has a monopoly going on. If Microsoft had reached their level of market saturation, governments would be all over them. The days of Apple whining about being the underdog are long gone and governments need to accept that. Apple needs to be treated just like Microsoft.
    Reply
  • radiowars
    Easiest way to fix this- Don't update itunes. I haven't for a while (2 reasons, one being that itunes SUCKS in the first place, the other is that I'm lazy). If you're dead set on using itunes, just don't update, and you're set.

    Palm Pre>iphone
    Reply