The Palm and Apple war seems to have ended. Readers may remember that when the Palm Pre was released it had the ability to sync with Apple"s iTunes software. It did this is in a slightly underhand manner, essentially masking itself as an iPhone to be able to sync with the piece of software.
According to Read Write Web, the most recent version of the hack was made possible by Palm"s use of Apple"s USB hardware vendor code that was 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. Naturally this did not stand too well with the people at Apple - resulting in Apple disabling the aforementioned functionality in future versions of the iTunes software.
A strategy change seemed to be the best way to solve this problem which will put an end to the battle. Yesterday, Palm released an update to the existing Pre software which boasts the important update that brings paid applications to the Pre"s App Catalog. However, it is a more under reported feature which seems to have finally ended Palm"s feud with Apple.
The Palm Pre will now allow wireless MP3 downloads via Amazon"s MP3 Store. This news, reported on the Official Palm blog, states that this functionality now works over a WAN or a Wi-Fi network, meaning an end user doesn"t have to dock their device to load the music upon it.
Sarah Perez of Read Write Web comments on this news stating: "Although the iTunes experience overall may have been the preferable option for many users, Amazon at least provides a viable alternative for Pre owners. Amazon"s online catalog may still be a few million short of that of Apple"s, but often their prices are much more affordable thanks to daily deals and albums that start at $4.99."
It remains to be seen as to whether this will be a desicion which will work out for Palm. They are still providing a comprehensive library of media for their users, however, its popularity depends on whether this change is attractive to the consumer. After all, one of the factors attracting users to the Palm Pre was the iTunes functionality.