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When the Palm Pre debuted, one of its most useful features was its ability to sync with Apple's iTunes software. Unfortunately, how it went about doing this was a little bit underhanded: it pretended to be an iPhone. The most recent version of the hack - yes, there were several - was made possible by Palm's use of Apple's USB hardware vendor code provided by the USB Implementers Forum, an industry standards group. The Pre simply used Apple's code so that iTunes would see the Pre as an Apple device. Apple of course, was not happy, and purposefully broke this functionality in subsequent iTunes software updates. Palm responded by complaining to the Forum, but the group took Apple's side.

Now, finally, the Apple/Palm war seems to have ended. With the latest update to Palm Pre's webOS software, the company has come up with a new tactic altogether: forget about iTunes, use Amazon instead.

Augmented reality (or AR) is fast becoming as ubiquitous a term as "Web 2.0." The field is getting noisier by the day, and AR as a field of research now has to co-exist with its status as an industry buzzword. Knowing the difference between the two is important. To do that, we have to examine the field and then revisit the buzzword you may have heard 10 years ago.

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.

Evernote just announced the release of its native application for the Palm Pre. The company recently celebrated its 1 millionth user despite the note taking product's initial mixed reviews. The company hopes to boost their mobile audience with the Palm release and have already implemented location-based functionality in the Pre, Android and iPhone. At first glance this might seem like an unnecessary feature for a note taking tool, but there are just some instances where you have to ask Ashton Kutcher's immortal words, "Dude, where's my car?"

Om Malik reports that Salesforce.com, the San Francisco-based provider of a SaaS CRM and the Force.com platform, will have a native Palm Pre app of its very own. The news comes from a conversation between Malik and CEO Marc Benioff earlier today.

The Pre app in the works for later this year will be offered alongside the Salesforce.com native applications for iPhone and BlackBerry that already exist.

Now that the Palm Pre has seen its first days in the sun, Sprint is offering a new mobile broadband plan for business users, offering 500 MB of data per month for $40.

Called the Connection Plan for Corporate Liable accounts, it appears that Sprint's enterprise plan is more data for the price than either Verizon or AT&T.

Official sales figures are not out yet, but if its sold-out status at virtually every Sprint and Best Buy retailer is any indication, then the much anticipated debut of the Palm Pre (and the new webOS) is a smashing success. Bloomberg.com is reporting that Palm may sell as many as 150,000 Pre phones this weekend and that number is likely to rise in the coming weeks as waiting lists are filling up fast.