Palm WebOS 1.2.1 now available, 'fixes' iTunes media sync
By Thomas Ricker 
posted October 3rd 2009 4:20AM
posted October 3rd 2009 4:20AM
posted October 3rd 2009 4:20AM
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Boring
PALM and Apple Never end. :(
and yeah, its little boring man :(
Steve Jobs:
"Time to UNFIXIT"
Apple should get back at Palm by making it possible for iPods to sync with Palm's music software ...oh wait.
What kind of advertising does Palm offer for potential Pre buyers... Occasional iTunes connectivity?
Palm needs to spend less time spoofing IDs and spend more time designing their own sync software. And from a company that claimed the Treo was a more versatile smartphone than the iPhone. Pfft.
I dunno, man; I still can't see my to do list on my iPhone's home screen. My Treo did that and more just fine. The iPhone may be a prettier and perhaps even better smartphone, but more capable? I'm not so sure.
The update is not on Bell Pres yet, mines sitting at 1.2.0 and I am being told it is up to date
It wasn't enough for Palm to steal iPhone UI and technology, they also want to steal
iTunes as well. Apple spent billions building iTunes infrastructure and Palm wants
it for free. I hope Apple keeps slapping their face humiliate them! Palm sure has
has thick face for practicing unethical business.
It looks fine for me.
@ Cameron
I agree 100%. "Smart phones" are getting faster and prettier, but they seem to be loosing a lot of core functionality. I can't speak for the iPhone but I just bought an HTC Magic, and as nice and pretty as it was, my old Palm m515 and WinMo6 phone had better copy and paste support.
I mean for gods sakes, the iPhone JUST got it. And Android is in bad need of a copy and paste redesign. Forget the m515, my m105 and IIIe did that better :P
So a note to RIM, MS, Apple, Google, and Palm. We know you want to make you're phones all pretty and touch friendly, but look back and remember that we don't like being jipped out of what we used to be able to do. At least I don't.
Another note, what makes capacitive screens all the rage? I mean sure it's nice to have finger friendly UIs, but where has all this hate for resistive screens come from? Just because capacitive screens are the cat's meow right now doesn't mean we should forget the stylus. 90% of the things I do on my phone work great with my thumb, but it would be nice to have handwriting recognition again.
I'm getting off topic here :P
Plain and simple. When developing for the future, don't forget the past.
9.0.2 will be ready in the morning
If anything it'd be interesting to see Palm push the iTunes version number up to 9.0.10.
I'd have to get some popcorn!
Yawn, world class os? I it has to steal Itunes no wonder Pre sales are tanking
@ roy:
Um, you have that wrong sir. Palm does not want to bend over for Apple's controlling arm. I would normally side with Apple, but iTunes currently corners the market for music management, and wants everyone to suck off of that teat. Palm, is the rogue company fighting to gain some ground over Apple. Power to 'em.
Any company with the courage to stand up to Apple is pretty damn cool in my book. Stupid, but cool. Balls, my friend. Palm has them.
One word.
doubleTwist.
Google it.
@dweechin
" I would normally side with Apple, but iTunes currently corners the market for music management, and wants everyone to suck off of that teat"
I think you'll find that, in this case, Apple _doesn't_ want Palm sucking on its teat (or any appendage). Hey Palm, just write your own software. Also, Music Management is not a market. At all. Music Purchasing, involving MONEY, is a market. Palm hooking into the iTunes store is really shady. Palm already has Amazon. Come on guys, between you two, there's gotta be some Software guys that need work.
PS (Yes, I'm aware Apple bought SoundJam.)
PPS. (Yes, Palm has already been harangued by the USB group for these shenanigans. Bush League.)
Its really annoying how some people seem to think the only way to synchronize iTunes purchases is directly through iTunes. There's a lot of more appropriate things Palm can do in order to let Pre owners sync their iTunes media. Hell, every other company on the planet has to play by those rules, so what makes Palm special? Having a former Apple engineer as their CEO?
@ Millah
Of course there are a plethora of wonderful applications that perform the same tasks as iTunes (and in some cases better or more efficiently). I for one use Songbird, (it still needs work, but it's coming along nicely).
But everyone seems to be missing the point of this whole issue! The mass market for portable media is influenced greatly by iTunes. Ask anyone who has an iPod what software they use, and 98% of the time they'll say iTunes. It's the mass market that Palm wants to attract! Idiot customers don't want to spend their precious time learning other music/media software. As soon as they hear: "it works with iTunes!", they're on board. When grandma wants to buy her 19 year old grandson a new phone, and the salesperson says, "it works with iTunes!," she may not know what that means, but she has heard of "iTunes" before - and that familiarity helps the sale.
My point is, MOST people are familiar with iTunes. People stick with what they are familiar with, it's human nature. It's unfortunate that many of the great media management apps out there haven't gained as much attention (Apple wouldn't want it any other way). Even if Palm introduces it's own syncing software, it will be foreign to iTunes users. This, in turn, is unattractive for the prospective Pre customer.
Palm, like any company, knows it's competitors. Palm is smart enough to know that whatever syncing software it produces, no matter the quality - it won't gain nearly as much attention as iTunes has. BUT, Palm doesn't want to pay dues to Apple for the opportunity, so they're circumventing the software. And with that, we're back to the issue at hand.
Oh yeah
@ Mike:
I agree! Of course money is relative to this whole debacle, which is why Apple doesn't want Palm mooching. Like I said, it's understandable from Apple's point of reference.
I will reiterate my post a couple posts down. Being the standard does not give other companies the right to use their competitors software illegally. Palm is misusing Apples vendor code to do this, and thats not right.
Apple is the company that invested the time, risk, and resources into making iTunes what it is today. They put the work in, other companies can't just come in and use it just because its the standard.
You can argue it a million times saying that "everyone knows how to use iTunes," but at the end of the day thats still a piss poor argument. Thats not even an argument, thats just a poor justification to justify Palms questionable actions.
Sure, we understand WHY Palm wants to have the Pre sync seamlessly with iTunes, but does that mean they are ALLOWED to? No, unless Apple wants them using the software they built.
@ Millah
Read the post above the one you just posted. As I have already stated, twice now, Apple clearly has the right of way.
"Everyone knows iTunes" is not to the contrary. Not in the least It's simply the statement of "why" Palm would be doing this. Before calling something a "piss poor excuse" for an argument, make sure that it is - in fact - an argument.
My statement wasn't "Palm is right and Apple is wrong." It was a statement as to why a company would continue such a battle, ultimately landing it in unfavorable territory. The whole thing is comical. And yes, I do like seeing Apple get a little pissy. It tickles me. BUT that doesn't mean I think what Palm is doing is right.
Millah: but does that mean they are ALLOWED to? No, unless Apple wants them using the software they built.
Screw that. Its my computer and my hardware. I should be able to sync whatever the hell I please. Its just incredible how anti-user rights some people are. All the bending over backwards for "corporate rights" which screw us over is ridiculous. How about you assert yourself instead of rationalizing anti-consumer policies?
Copy Paste FTW.
Why mark the guy down? It's a valid point. Users of the Pre are being subjected to this back and forth pissing contest. Palm knew this would be a rocky ride and brought its customers along for the beating rather than adopting a system that would benefit its customers. Part of the success of the iPhone is the integration with iTunes and the seamless interaction of the two.
@Millah
Are you sure that what Palm is doing is illegal? Where is the statute? Just because a USB org doesn't like it doesn't mean anything legally. It is possible, perhaps probable, that Palm is violating a copyright but my guess as to why apple has not taken them to court is that it is also possible they could lose that claim and then iTunes connectivity would be a free for all. I'm curious on whether or not you think it would be okay for MS to blocks iPods from connecting to windows.
Mostly I agree with Farhad here - apple is hypocrite. http://www.slate.com/id/2229856/
If its so illegal why hasn't Apple sued?
This sounds like The Adventures of MS in Europe: a company with a compelling product is doing all they can to thwart other folks from developing for it and thus gaining and advantage. In a couple years, mark my words, Apple will be getting sued for monopolistic practices, as they relate to music management.
And as to folks saying Palm is "illegally" doing this... any legal folks around here that could shine some light on that argument? Is there anything illegal about this? (Say nothing of "tacky"...)
Guys, pissing off the USB-IF is a big deal. If they've once again spoofed Apple's vendor ID, an act expressly forbidden in that letter we read about, then there's a good chance Palm could have their own license revoked.
What that would mean is Palm having to come up with an entirely different method to connect their devices to your computer. Not a great strategy on their part.
Guys, an update to a piece of software on YOUR computer that intentionally breaks the use of YOUR device is what we call malware. Just because Apple is a big company doesn't mean we should give them a pass on this. They're distributing malware for the purposes of maintaining their monopoly on the de facto digital music solution. There is no technical reason why that program should intentionally cripple compatibility with third-party devices.
I wonder if itunes 9.0.2 will just be like 1-2 megabytes bigger then 9.0.1
I'm with dweechin on this.
Apple have a monopoly in iTunes and will do anything they can to get people to buy their [very nice] products. Just like the issue of Microsoft bundling IE in Windows, people must be given the freedom to choose alternative manufacturer hardware while keeping iTunes compatibility.
@ the whole thread
literally 1000's of words of posturing AND YET not one post that actually gets it right.
Palm does not HAVE to do this, Apple provides a Freakin API. There are plenty other PMP devices that SYNC WITH iTunes and they don't break every point release.
Okay people? Once more now, Apple ALLOWS companies to connect devices to iTunes.
Palm and Rubenstein are just being fookheads. Can write an entire OS but can't connect to an existing API. Someone needs to smash him before this crap is used to legally destroy Palm.
...
Interestingly, Apple will either have to move to cumulative updates (since each point is the whole app again punishing non Pre owners), load the next point with poison code that kills the Pre, or destroy Palm legally. The current back/forth isn't Apple winning
I vote for poison code that kills Palm Pre's that connect to iTunes. It's the most exciting option.
See, IMO this is what got us to those crappy copyright laws.
The problem: you people hold on to your shit TOO TIGHT, so tight that makes everybody uncomfortable.
It is allowed by law of course, but you are still an a**hole. A legal a**hole, that's all.
@cy: You're right, but I don't think just anyone can just *use* that connectivity API without violating a licensing agreement somewhere, unless they deal with Apple first. I don't think anyone's actually done that for a long time, and it's possible that Apple isn't offering that option anymore.
API or not, if Palm wants to integrate with iTunes (and they clearly do), they need to sync up (^_^) with Apple and do what it takes to get in there legitimately.
You got the articles ready with holes to fill for version numbers ?
Actually, I think you are reading an article pre-written for this occasion.
It will last forever, if you choose not to upgrade your Apple products. Duh.
You've got to pick a side, and if you've bought a Pre while owning a Mac, you already have.
it's not that simple. there are some areas where ATT simply blows in coverage. but Sprint is rocking it. So the iphone (which is not on Sprint and can't be unlocked to Sprint cause of the GSM/CDMA issue) is not an option.
as for those saying "I can't buy music from itunes" yes you can. now that it is DRMfree you can buy it and use it anywhere you want in terms of devices. as for syncing, they put the list in an XML and as proven by Blackberry and such, you can write apps that will even read the playlists from itunes. Palm was just lazy. And I'm actually shocked that Apple hasn't filed something legal at this point. Won't be shocked if they do later. This isn't really all that different from the whole Psystar issue. Well there is one difference, Apple might actually be considered having market power in portable media devices. So maybe that's why they aren't fighting it in court yet. they need to determine the effect of that issue first. Whether they could be hit with anti trust. Although it makes one wonder why Palm hasn't thought of that tactic and used it as a way to force official syncing support from within itunes.
I love it. Apple upgrades make your product worse, Palm upgrades make it better. This is why I downgraded from iPhone OS 3.0 to 2.2.1. 3.0 made my 3G unusably slow and hot.
Well while I'm not a fan of itunes this will make my life a little easier, will have to get it tomorrow.
And it doesnt HAVE to steal itunes, it just makes many people's lives easier, like my own, I currently have about 5 music managing programs on my pc, itunes because of my ipod which I am keeping for now, and my music management has gone out of the window, it was so pretty before but now...
wow...palm is just begging to be kicked in the nuts.
Dont worry; they seem to have an endless supply.
@F. C.
Sounds like what Chuck Norris would say.
Go Palm! hahaha...
No look I do of course agree that its an unreliable solution for consumers & a nice Blackberry for Mac solution is probably the best way... but the battle still never fails to amuse me...
Yeah, go Palm! Keep blatantly misusing Apple's vendor ID, that'll show 'em!
Oh no wait, it will just get them sued out of existence. You realize that by having the Pre identify itself as an actual Apple iPod that it's violating Apple's trademark, right? Yes, Apple owns both the names Apple and iPod. Palm is simply being stupid by not writing an app to sync to iTunes like RIM did, and they're actually on the wrong side of the law on this one.
So let's all applaud Palm's stupidity, because they're so awesome or something.
If what Palm is doing is/was illegal, there would have been a lawsuit the first time they did this.
Wonder if Apple would take it further than just updating iTunes. Wonder if they could sue. Time to grab a big bag of popcorn if that happens.
Everyone here keeps calling it "illegal" for Palm to sync with iTunes, but i'm not buying it. Im pretty sure this falls in the exceptions clauses in the DMCA, no wonder what Apple says. The fanboys are complaining that Apple had to invest sooo much money to make iTunes, and Palm is stealing it...but then why is Apple then investing more money to keep Palm out? If this had anything to do with money spent on the software, Apple would just ignore Palm, but they actively try to block them, proving it has everything to do with maintaining their dominance in the music and player industry.
lol Palm
Has Palm's response to the USB-IF's request been published on the internet?