A new chapter in iTunes war was added this week when Palm released the new Palm webOS 1.1 software update and posted on its blog mocking Apple - “Oh, and one more thing: Palm webOS 1.1 re-enables Palm media sync. That’s right – you once again can have seamless access to your music, photos and videos from the current version of iTunes (8.2.1).”
Apple last week updated iTunes software disabling sync feature of Palm Pre. Apple continued to maintain its stance on the topic after Palm’s software update and said, “As we’ve said before, newer versions of Apple’s iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with unsupported digital media players.”
Palm went one step further by notifying the USB Implementers Forum about improper use of the Vendor ID number by Apple. Palm said, “Openness and interoperability offer better experience for users by allowing them the freedom to use the content they own without interference across device and services, so on behalf of consumer, we have notified the USB Implementers Forum.”
Two things Palm is doing wrong here are one – Palm is hacking iTunes to work with its hardware even though it has no legal permission from the software maker, and second – Palm complained to USB Implementers Forum even though it is wrongly using USB Vendor ID to identify Pre as Apple’s device.
Apple isn’t stopping customers from using their DRM-free content across various devices. In fact you can play a DRM-free song bought from iTunes on any device that supports AAC codec. You can simply drag and drop those songs on the device that shows up as USB drive on the computer or you can use the syncing software that came with the device. What Apple is doing is stopping Palm from using Apple’s proprietary software iTunes for their gain. If Palm had developed a media syncing software for Pre that run on your computer, Apple wouldn’t have blocked it.
Apple has never claimed that iTunes works with various devices. Syncing is a feature of iTunes software (which is proprietary) and not a feature of content customers bought from iTunes store. Basically, Palm is using 10 years of hard work that Apple did building iTunes and advertising it as a feature on Pre. If Palm continues like this, the cat and mouse game will end in a court and Palm’s customers who bought the Pre thinking it has iTunes support will be the one’s to suffer because of Palm.
[Via TechzTalk]
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