Comments on: Apple Obliquely Warns Palm Over “Unsupported” Media Players

By: Weekly App Store Picks: June 20, 2009

Weekly App Store Picks: June 20, 2009 — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:05:26 +0000

[...] iPhone’s most viable competitor. A new technical note was released this week, implying that Apple will soon disable syncing between iTunes and the Palm Pre. For me, the Pre’s tight integration and communication with iTunes was a major advantage for [...]

By: Third-party iTunes Syncing: It’s Not Just About Palm

Third-party iTunes Syncing: It’s Not Just About Palm — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 05:26:09 +0000

[...] recent tech note regarding third parties using iTunes’ syncing has caused plenty of discussion. Should Apple “break” the Pre’s ability to sync as an iPod? Why would Cupertino [...]

By: Third Party iTunes Syncing: It’s Not Just About Palm

Third Party iTunes Syncing: It’s Not Just About Palm — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:02:01 +0000

[...] recent tech note regarding third parties using iTunes’ syncing has caused plenty of discussion. Should Apple “break” the Pre’s ability to sync as an iPod? Why would they do [...]

By: Tony

Tony — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 04:31:56 +0000

Afraid of what competition ? EVERYONE IS FREE TO MAKE ANY PRODUCT THEY WANT! If they can make it better, power to them…
Enough said

By: Tony

Tony — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 01:33:04 +0000

It sounds to me like Apple is really going out of their way to keep Palm out of their software. Since the Pre is “pretending” to be an iPod, you’d really have to try hard to check that it wasn’t and block it out.

I’m okay with Apple doing it, I just think it’s silly their hiding behind all this rhetoric. Instead of saying “newer versions of Apple’s iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with non-Apple [devices]” and pretending like it’s a accident thing, they should really just say “iTunes is for Apple devices, PERIOD.”

Anyway, this just shows that Apple’s afraid of competition.

By: What to read on the GigaOM network

What to read on the GigaOM network — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:56:15 +0000

[...] Edit Staff | Wednesday, June 17, 2009 | 10:55 AM PT | 0 comments AT&T offering iPhone 3G S subsidy for some existing customers (jkOnTheRun) 5 tips for netbook buyers (WebWorkerDaily) Coming soon, LEED for data centers? (Earth2Tech) Logitech launches (very) simplified video calling (NewTeeVee) In the works: a Linux-based RoboCar from ZMP (OStatic) Apple warns Palm over “unsupported” media players (TheAppleBlog) [...]

By: Brian Hogg

Brian Hogg — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:44:44 +0000

I wonder if this is something that will actually be easy for Apple to shut down. If the Pre is identifying itself the way that iPods do, how would Apple tell the difference? I wonder if that would require Apple to update not just iTunes, but the firmware of every iPod out there.

It sounds like it’s a fairly intricate hack, and considering that the Pre folks were Apple folks, one can imagine that they’ve already thought through the easy ways Apple could shut them down.

It’ll be interesting to see how that shakes out.

By: James

James — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:38:01 +0000

I’m fine with Apple disabling the back door iTunes functionality for the Pre. Palm is already spinning it as underhanded, but the reality is that building the back door in the first place was the first underhanded move by Palm, not to mention a lot of bridges burned by Palm CEO Jon Rubenstein, the former Apple employee.

At the end of the day, Apple isn’t beholden to another company’s customers or shareholders, and they’re certainly not obligated to support another company’s product. iTunes functionality is one of the big selling points for the iPhone, and it’s their prerogative to protect that.