iTunes Integration Can’t Be Legit

[Gekko]

what's so great and special about itunes? i never used it.

[Kupe]

Originally Posted by Xyg

By cheesy your mean smart, by leech you mean take advantage of. Got it!

Perhaps I should remind you of those not particularly veiled threats by Apple and their intention to protect their intellectual property. Palm would look pretty stupid if all their Pre owners were suddenly cut off from iTunes syncing simply because Palm was too bush league to play in the bigs.

[Shan]

Originally Posted by Gekko

what's so great and special about itunes? i never used it.

Podcasts, iTunesU, and the AppStore (for iPhone users).

[Xyg]

Originally Posted by Kupe

Perhaps I should remind you of those not particularly veiled threats by Apple and their intention to protect their intellectual property. Palm would look pretty stupid if all their Pre owners were suddenly cut off from iTunes syncing simply because Palm was too bush league to play in the bigs.

Perhaps I should remind you that both companies probably have competent legal council, and that Palm has probably analyzed any risk involved and moved ahead accordingly.

[Str8addicted]

Originally Posted by Kupe

Perhaps I should remind you of those not particularly veiled threats by Apple and their intention to protect their intellectual property. Palm would look pretty stupid if all their Pre owners were suddenly cut off from iTunes syncing simply because Palm was too bush league to play in the bigs.

palm users ARE NOT buying the pre for the use of itunes.... it's just a bonus. as i can remember there was a buz b4 they announced it could sync using itunes

[Felipe]

do we know how the pre is spoofing an ipod?

do we know how hard/easy it is to do?

[imex99]

I hope they don't block it...

[Kupe]

Originally Posted by Xyg

Perhaps I should remind you that both companies probably have competent legal council, and that Palm has probably analyzed any risk involved and moved ahead accordingly.

No reminder necessary. Can't you just hear the knives being sharpened at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA as we post? I'm sure a licensing agreement would be acceptable to Palm. And there's nothing like a little extra cash to spice up Apple's $25 Billion cash reserves.

[Felipe]

Originally Posted by Str8addicted

palm users ARE NOT buying pres for the use of itunes.... it's just a bonus.

excatly, it is only something we just found out about.

i doubt many (if any) said to themselves, now i can get a pre.

[Gekko]

Originally Posted by Str8addicted

palm users ARE NOT buying the pre for the use of itunes.... it's just a bonus. as i can remember there was a buz b4 they announced it could sync using itunes

what about iphone or ipod converts?

[sethpcs]

A piece of software called "iTunes Agent" (for Windows) lets you use any mass storage device with iTunes. So even if Apple decides to block the Pre's native connection method, you can still use iTunes, if you really want to.

You can find it here (without the space): h t t p : / / ita.sourceforge.net/index.html

[jbg7474]

I'm stunned. I love the iTunes support--before I knew about it, I was fully prepared to live without it and just drag and drop, but since I use iTunes, the idea of having the convenience is really nice. But I'm floored that Palm would have their device (okay, part of their device) identify itself as an Apple iPod. It appears that it would be very easy for Apple to block it if they wanted to. I see a few possibilities:

1. Maybe Palm licensed the ability to do this. I admit, the chances are so small as to be negligible, especially with the D7 conversation. But it is theoretically a possibility. I actually kind of hope that this is what happened, because at least it's honest, and on the up and up. Apple would then not block it, because it really would be an iPod.

2. Even without a license, Apple may do nothing. Palm seems to be inviting a legal battle, but Apple opens itself up to the whole monopoly question (especially on the mac side of the house where iTunes is installed by default--sounds like IE on Windows, no?). Also, the Pre is not really a threat to the iPod franchise. Apple will not sell fewer iPods as a result of this. But other phones and mp3 players could do exactly what Palm has done, and that could be something Apple starts to not like. I still say it doesn't hurt iPod sales now that they have such a huge market share.

3. Tit for tat. Apple breaks it, Palm sues, ugly, ugly, ugly. Or the other way around, Apple sues but does not break it, ugly legal battle, and so forth.

I don't know, I'm just really disappointed in Palm that they would represent their product electronically as an Apple iPod. Unless they've licensed it, it's dishonest at best.

Boo, Palm. Boo.

[Stihl]

I think the entire thing is stupid, personally. I guess it's good if you have a mac and are used to itunes, but advertising this as a feature when it's lasting existence is potentially tenuous is sort of weak. That said, I really do not plan on using itunes to sync my music-I'll just drag and drop like I have done with every other smartphone I have owned.

And jb, I'm not so sure I see Palm suing here. Even though a patent-civil-war would be interesting as Apple surely has ostensibly violated Palms patents with it's IPhone, Apple still has the cash and access to lawyers to keep Palm in court until the cows come home. I would love to see Apple deal with anti-monopoly issues though.

[SedahDrol]

It would be bad publicity for apple to do this, the headlines would read "Apple blocks IPhone competitor Palm Pre from ITunes access"