Palm confirms Pre sync with iTunes

Palm confirmed its forthcoming Pre smartphone will enable users to synchronize the device with Apple's iTunes. Speaking Thursday at The Wall Street Journal's D: All Things Digital event, Palm executive chairman (and Apple veteran) Jon Rubinstein said users who plug their Pre into their computer are offered the option of using the device as a USB drive, charging it or beginning a "media sync" session--the device will sync with iTunes, although it cannot download DRM-protected digital music or mobile applications optimized for Apple's iPhone or iPod touch.

Asked by the Journal's Walt Mossberg how Apple is likely to feel about the Pre synchronization, Rubinstein tried to evade the question, responding that there are a variety of methods to get music out of iTunes. After Mossberg pressed the subject, pointing out that the Pre is the first non-Apple device that Mac systems still recognize as Apple hardware, Rubinstein again dodged the issue, at which point Roger McNamee, managing director of Palm investor Elevation Partners, stepped in to contend that Apple is "practically a monopolist" and that consumers should be able to use the music they purchase however they see fit.

Apple has not yet issued an official comment on the Pre/iTunes sync issue. But asked about the Pre during Apple's quarterly earnings call in January, COO Tim Cook said the computing giant would deploy every weapon at its disposal to fight companies that infringe on its intellectual property.

For more on the Pre/iTunes connection:
- read this Wall Street Journal article

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