SAN FRANCISCO — The latest version of iTunes from Apple has cut off rival Palm’s Pre smartphone. Apple’s online music and video bazaar now “disables devices falsely pretending to be iPods,” which include the Pre, an Apple spokesman said.
The Pre has been able to access iTunes since going on sale in the U.S. in early June. But it was always unclear whether the Pre was doing so with Apple’s permission. Given the latest iTunes update, Palm appears to have been acting on its own.
The development is a negative one for Palm, which was counting on a competitive advantage from downloading music and videos from iTunes.
“If Apple chooses to disable media sync in iTunes, it will be a direct blow to their users who will be deprived of a seamless synchronization experience,” Palm spokesman Lynn Fox said. “However, people will have options.”
Those include using previous versions of iTunes that are still Pre-compatible, she added. Dow Jones Newswires
