Will Apple Break Pre's Ability to Sync?
In order to compete with the iPhone, you not only have to have a multi-touch interface and a slew of apps, you also have to offer the music and media that the iPhone provides thanks to its ability to sync with iTunes. For Google's Android mobile OS, the music comes courtesy of Amazon's MP3 Store which is preloaded on G1 phones. But more recently, Palm seemingly trumped Android when they revealed how their new Pre smartphone would bring music to the device: it pretends to be an iPod. Apple surely couldn't have been happy about that news and today, they're letting the world know. The Cupertino-based company has just issued a thinly veiled threat to owners of "unsupported third-party digital media players," stating that the players may not work with newer versions of iTunes. Yep, Palm Pre, they're looking at you.
Surprisingly, Apple hasn't yet sued Palm over the technology used to trick the PC into thinking its an iPod and syncing it accordingly. Instead, it sounds like they just plan to break that functionality by releasing a new version of the iTunes software.
According to a post on Apple's website, the company is now claiming - for the record - that they will not guarantee other devices will sync with the iTunes software nor will they support those devices.
Here's how the post reads:
Apple designs the hardware and software to provide seamless integration of the iPhone and iPod with iTunes, the iTunes Store, and tens of thousands of apps on the App Store. Apple is aware that some third-parties claim that their digital media players are able to sync with Apple software. However, Apple does not provide support for, or test for compatibility with, non-Apple digital media players and, because software changes over time, newer versions of Apple's iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with non-Apple digital media players.
That sounds like a definite slap in the face to the Pre who may soon see one of their main selling points disappear with a simple update to the iTunes software.
Still, Apple has to be careful not to implement the update in a such way that makes it appear that they've done so just to break the Pre's syncing ability...that would reek of anti-competitiveness and could get them in trouble with the U.S. Department of Justice. However, we know Apple is filled with enough smart people that they could surely think of a way to break it without making it look like they broke it on purpose . The question is, will they really do something that under-handed and sneaky? Or do they just want to create a climate of fear by implying that you can't trust the Pre to always work?
Either way, it doesn't look like good news for Palm.
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I think Apple would do well to continue to allow the Pre to sync for a couple of reasons.
1. As mentioned to avoid any government action.
2. Because they are in control of Itunes and get to shape it's direction. So, the more people who rely upon their service the more power they have over the market.
3. Apple makes loads of money off of Itunes - the more people who are making purchases through the Itunes the more money they make.
I also think the are playing their cards very well. By allowing continued access (so far) but putting out the veiled threat they take a hack at Palm's ability to compete with the Iphone, yet still keep any Itunes business that comes through Palm.
They are walking a thin line. I wonder how long they can keep walking with out falling to one side or the other.
I don't understand while people to rail on Apple for things like this. They are the most closed, facist company! What happen to being open etc. Apple is ultra-controlling, closed doors, barrier building. Whether its the iPhone App approval process, or shutting down integration with other devices. If Microsoft issued statements like this, people would have a fit.
Both Justin and Michael are correct. It makes perfect sense for Apple to allow this. It would extended iTunes and would keep the government at bay. There are lots of google guys in the Obama Administration and the DOJ is looking for stuff to go after. I'm sure Apple is thinking that part of the appeal of their phone is the unique ability to synch with iTunes. They have to way that selling benefit against the other risks.
@Michael, the reason that Apple is as closed as it is is simple, we ... fans of Apple products, prefer it that way. I'm an avid fan boy, I love the Mac but not because I drank any tainted Kool Aid, it's because everything works perfectly and there is no chance of my MacBook rejecting my Mac OS or my Mac iPhone causing problems with my Mac Monitors ... closed is good, closed is reliable and when you rely on hardware for a career, closed is profitable.
yup...yo christopher ross. you are truly a fan boy.
This is being blown way out of proportion by bloggers and news sites. The reality is that this is a legal issue. This technical note is probably from the lawyers rather than the engineers. If Apple does not say it can only guarantee support for its own devices, any exclusion of a device that now works will bring on complaints from users and lawsuits because they downloaded and paid for music and suddenly their Pre does not work. Even a temporary break while Palm updates the Pre could bring stress on Apple it does not deserve. The note does not mean Apple is going out of its way to exclude the Pre but rather that it will not guarantee compatibility... that is a safe thing to say!
If anything the legal issue is against Palm not Apple. Apple writes their software to work with their hardware. They are under no legal obligation to support a competator. Regardless of what ppl may think Apple is not a monopoly and thus don't have to behave like one. There are tons of other phones, music players, and computer makers out there that would give a judge pause.
And problems have already started to occur. I just read a blog post, could be false, that iTunes tried to update a Palm Pre with the new iPhone OS. Is this Apple's fault, ummm no. And like I said this could be crap, but it is still in the realm of possibility.
Friends don't let friends use Itunes in the first place.
The issue is why Palm would allow their precious child to have anything to do with Apple. That makes no business sense. Why allow any company, especially Apple, to have anything to do with the Pre's user experience?
And to top it off, Palm has been bad-mouthing and trash-talkin' against the iPhone from day one. Remember this quote from the now former Palm CEO:
"Colligan laughed off the idea that any company -- including the wildly popular Apple Computer -- could easily win customers in the finicky smart-phone sector. 'We've learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone,' he said. 'PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They're not going to just walk in.'"
Karma is a b……
I think I'd try to return my Pre if it stopped working for a feature that I purchased it for.
And it's Palm's problem NOT Apple's!
"closed is good, closed is reliable"
Like microsoft, right?
But seriously, this is a bad sign for Apple. If iPhones are the new PC, Apple is the new Microsoft.
It will be easy for Apple to break the Palm Pre.
Currently, when an iPhone or iPod links up with iTunes, it sends its ID to iTunes signifying what it is.
What Apple can do is simply have iTunes do a checksum on the firmware of the iPhone or iPod to actually verify that it has connected with the iPhone or iPod with the correct ID. It can do this to allow iTunes to check which device is compatible with its features. After all iTunes upgrades have added new features. New firmware updates were required for those features to work - such as HD movies.
By doing a checksum and refusing to work with an unverified device - notifying the user that it has corrupted firmware, telling the user to update the firmware before iTunes can proceed to work - then Apple has completely blocked the Pre.
Moreover, Apple would also have blocked unlocked or jailbroken iPhones and iPods as well. The rationale for doing a checksum would also include making sure that the Fairplay DRM is intact and working. Having iTunes do a checksum before proceeding would block pirated apps from loading onto the iPhone.
This will kill two birds with one stone.
The rationale again is as follows:
1. To make sure firmware is not corrupted
2. To make sure Fairplay DRM is intact and not breached.
3. To insure that the attached iPhone or iPod has the latest firmware to be fully compatible with iTunes.
Ta Dah!
Big deal! Itunes is just a way to sell music. I don't care where I buy my music from, especially when it has DRM. It seems to me that Apple would be the one hurt by cutting off access to PRE users to BUY music.
I can see the legal reason to post the statement in order to cover all eventualities, especially in the litigation crazed states.
Does it make business sense to actively block the device? No, not really. I can see why a nightclub does not want every customer and has therefore bouncer, since their crowd is part of their image - like it or not.
But why would they actively block someone from buying their tunes? That would be like Walmart saying - you can only buy from us if you have bought the clothes your wearing from us. Otherwise, please buy from K-Mart (Amazon in this case)
Let alone the negative publicity. Would anyone at Apple actually know how to deal with negative publicity?
My 2cent...
the music comes courtesy of Amazon's MP3 Store which is preloaded on G1 phones.
Wow, people read way too much into these things. The Apple disclaimer is standard across retail to ensure that Apple is NOT responsible for your Pre, and to make sure that Pre owners don't go to the Apple Store if they have problems. Palm implies that the Pre is an iPod leaving the consumer thinking it might get support from Apple. This is Apple stating that they do not support 3rd party devices.
Amazing that haters would call Apple "fascist"'. Do they know what "fascist" means?
Remains to be seen if this works. Let's see. I first saw this move in my kindle.
Few people seem to grasp the fact that :
1) iTunes stores media in a well defined directory structure
2) Stores the library information in an XML file, as well as it’s internal database format.
This makes it possible to write software that will synchronise an iTunes library with a non-Apple device, just not via iTunes itself. So even if Pre syncing was cut off from iTunes, it would still be possible to have a Pre desktop sync client that did the job.
As for DRM on music – there isn’t any anymore on iTunes, or did some people miss that one? And point me in the direction of a store selling non-DRM’d video before suggesting that it’s all about Apple trying to lock people in.
People should also see the emails from Microsoft around the creation of the Zune – the project emerged out of a criticism of their hardware partners in their failure to deliver an iPod-like seamless experience - even when provided with sync-ing APIs, they failed to deliver hardware that worked with them.
Ah, but I forget that drag-n-drop players are truly superior – ‘you don’t need to install bloated software’ cry the engineers.
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