“Palm today quietly circumvented Apple’s protective measures again with webOS 1.2.1. Its second update in a week is the first to restore iTunes syncing for the Pre since iTunes 8.2 and will let the Pre take media from iTunes 9.0.1 as though it were a native device in the jukebox software,” Electronista reports.
“Apple has never brought up the possibility of legal action regarding iTunes sync but has repeatedly made clear that it will break compatibility with non-Apple devices when possible,” Electronista reports.
Full article here.
John Paczkowski reports for AllThingsD, “How has Palm done this? By once again making the Pre masquerade as an Apple device.”
Plug your Pre into your computer and set it to Media Sync and it identifies itself like this:”
USB Product ID: 0×1209
USB Vendor ID: 0×05ac (Apple, Inc)
Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
Paczkowski reports, “A brazen move, considering the USB-IF specifically warned Palm against doing exactly this in its Sept. 22 letter to the company.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: What a great feature beleaguered Palm offers their Pre sufferers: Intermittent and unreliable iTunes syncing. This, along with near total App-Lack™, an antique mechanical keyboard perpetually stuck in vertical mode, no soft keyboard at all, a cheap plastic screen that’s reportedly quite the nasty scratch magnet, and flimsy, junky-feeling overall build-quality – all backed by a company that’s so running on fumes that they can’t even manage to come up with their own software to legally sync with iTunes. No wonder they’re having trouble selling their crappy, app-less fake iPhones.
My question is why these companies insist in fighting an uphill battle like salmon swimming upstream into the bear’s claw. Let it go already people! ‘App-Lack’…too funny MDN!
The USB-IF never sent Palm the info via registered letter, so Palm is just acting like they don’t know they shouldn’t be doing this.
What’s the worse that the USB-IF can do? Force Palm to remove the USB logo from their packaging?
Why doesn’t someone file a class-action suit against Palm for this crap. Aw hell, if anything they’d sue Apple.
Apple should sue palm for fraud since it says (apple inc.) or Pre uses should class action Palm.
Look for an iTunes update to arrive any second now …….
This very easily and permanently solved….Apple is just giving Palm enough USB cable to hang itself with. One of these days iTunes will stop checking USB ID’s….
just my $0.02
Sounds like Palm is a Micro$oft wanna-bee
MacDailyNews Take: What a great feature Palm offers their Pre sufferers: Intermittent and unreliable iTunes syncing. This, along with near total App-Lack™, an antique mechanical keyboard perpetually stuck in vertical mode, no soft keyboard at all, a cheap plastic screen that’s reportedly quite the nasty scratch magnet, and flimsy, junky-feeling overall build-quality – all backed by a company that’s so running on fumes that they can’t even manage to come up with their own software to legally sync with iTunes. No wonder they’re having trouble selling their crappy, app-less fake iPhones.
All the app-lack companies should band together and make commercials with a white duck?
At one point there was no iPhone and hence no iPhone apps.
felony fraud forgery theft etc
Palm either has really big kahunas or has not brains.
I hope the USB-F runs them through the ringer. Could you imagine if they revoke their licenses? That would be the end of their company.
Next up for Palm – trying to write the first virus for OS X.
Man, if I were a Pre user (hah!), I’d be soooo pissed that I wouldn’t know from day to day whether my phone could sync with iTunes. That would make me crazy, and I’m sure a lot of folks are returning the phone for the simple reason that this feature is in fact intermittent.
If the Pre had been as popular s they had hoped, it seems that they bet the farm that pressure would somehow mount for Apple to open iTunes a bit.
What were they thinking? Palm placed itself against the iPhone thinking that was its only competition. It’s really up against 250 million iPods that use iTunes and don’t need to budge from their position.
Palm may be in real trouble here. The economy is not turning around despite all the propaganda being fed to us in the news. 200,000+ jobs lost again. The Pre will not pursuade enough people to buy. Palm may sink soon, I think.
…”Palm either has really big kahunas or has not brains.”
You probably meant to say cojones (pronounced: co-HO-nes, spanish for testicles). Kahuna is a Hawaiian word meaning “priest, magician, wizard, expert”, not any of which is currently employed by Palm.
“I hope the USB-F runs them through the ringer.”
That would be <b>USB-IF</i> (USB Interchange Forum).
I totally agree with your point; if the USB license was revoked, Palm would pretty much have to stop selling that Pre thing.
And the tags get confused… bold italic. There…
The board of PALM needs to clean house.
OTOH, Apple can keep disabling this and laugh like hell.
I know I would, but I’m childish.
I’m not sure Apple can disable it this time, if Palm is going to make Pre pretend to be an iPod by actually identifying itself as an Apple product.
I suppose Apple could start using a new identification method to distinguish real iPods from “fake” iPods. But that would probably mean firmware updates to all previous iPod models. I don’t think Apple would consider the effort worthwhile, especially since Palm could illegally copy the new method as well. Apple will probably go the legal action route this time.
As much as I actually want Palm to survive, they are acting like a bunch of children and amateurs. They should just suck it up and create their own media sync software that accesses the iTunes library folder structure. Pre users can still use iTunes; only the syncing would be handled by Palms own software. Apple has every right to block access to their software by non-Apple devices, but Apple cannot block access to folders and files on a hard drive.
Anybody know what kind of sanctions Palm will be facing from the USB-IF over this? They’d better have some pretty sharp teeth to enforce the accurate vendor ID requirement, otherwise what’s to stop other companies from doing this kind of thing? Palm’s little stunt here could result in the reliability of USB identifiers being destroyed, unless they can be threatened with complete loss of USB functionality for not complying.
http://compliance.usb.org/index.asp?UpdateFile=Policies&Format=Standard#16
The Vendor ID used by a product must match the VID of the company producing the product (the integrator). […] If the VID of a product does not match the VID of the integrator, the USB-IF will not permit the device to be added to the Integrators List.
…so the only punishment is that the device can’t be added to a list? Seriously, that’s it?? Did none of the USB-IF member companies foresee the significant problems that could result from a company pulling the stunts Palm is pulling?!?
@ Cubert–
Big Kahunas? Is Palm into surfing now.
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the little phone that wanted to be an iPhone
I think a lot of this has to do with DRM compliance, and the big music companies should SUE PALM for every tune, just like they do all the other little people.
Haha, Predrag. Trying to look so smart.
The Pre now syncs with iPhoto also?