James Delahunty
10 Sep 2009 20:04
As predicted, Apple blocked the use of the Palm Pre with iTunes in the latest update for the multimedia application, iTunes 9. Previously, Apple had locked out the Pre handset from iTunes with the iTunes 8.2.1 update. Following the initial block, Palm restored the syncing abilities with the WebOS 1.1.0 update.
The cat and mouse game looks set to continue however, as the Pre is getting a WebOS 1.2 update in the near-future. Before the Pre launched, Palm announced that the new handset would be capable of syncing with the iTunes software. An Apple statement followed, promising that the syncing ability with the Pre won't last very long. It was two months after the launch when Apple blocked it.
Palm wasn't going to sit still over the issue however, and a wrote a letter of protest to the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), the non-profit organization that maintains the Universal Serial Bus (USB) specification and promotes the interface. Apple had blocked the Pre from syncing with iTunes by checking the idVendor descriptor when connected.
The Palm letter informed USB-IF of the WebOS update, which would change the Pre's Vendor ID to the same as Apple's in order to regain iTunes support. "Interoperability is central to any standard-setting organization," the letter read, "because, without widespread interoperability, many of the benefits of standardized (as opposed to proprietary) technologies are lost."
Unless USB-IF intervenes in the situation, this cat and mouse game of blocking and regaining Pre-iTunes support with software updates could continue for some time.