Palm Pre Hack: Pretends to be iPod to Interface, not Node
Remember that brouhaha over the Palm Pre syncing with iTunes? (Check out PreCentral.net's massive Palm Pre review for more on it from a functional perspective.)
Well, DVD Jon's nanocr.eu site (via Engadget Mobile) says he's confirmed that:
the way [Palm Pre] hooks to iTunes is very shady indeed. Turns out that the Pre identifies itself as an iPod when it's in Media Sync mode, but only on the system's mass storage interface; the root USB node still comes through as a Palm Pre.
This leads them to believe it might be something Apple could more easily block, if Apple so chooses to. We've already gone over the reasons why we think Palm's decision to sync directly with iTunes (as opposed to with the iTunes library XML file like RIM and Nokia do) is ballsy but ultimately bad for Apple (since they'll get blamed for problems by consumers who don't understand the hacky nature and limitations), Palm (since they will have to work at maintaining unlicensed compatibility), but most importantly consumers (because the experience is flawed and unreliable).
Here's hoping Palm finishes their strut around the launch-day press lines and the next update contains something closer akin to a non-shady, yet still iTunes and user friendly solution for everyone...
Editor-in-Chief of iMore, Executive Producer at Mobile Nations, co-host of Iterate and ZEN and TECH, cook, grappler, photon wrangler.
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They should allow pre users to use iTunes and then pull the plug after 24 hours with a message that reads, "please upgrade your product to iPhone and stop being asshole!"
Wouldn't the Iphone need to upgrade since it can only run one app at a time?
Thy should make iTunes completely erase the pre's OS and memory and render the phone unusable ]:) Thatll teach palm for messing and TRYING to compete w/ apple.
if they are going to use iTunes as their program to sync, They should make an agreement with apple isntead of doing what they are doing now.
Palm shouldn't try critize a product from a company and then turn around and use the very program That product uses to sync. Smh.
People need to stop leaching off apples sucess and create their own.
You mean like Safari (leached from KDE) , and OS X (leached from FreeBSD)? Have you read the ABOUT tab in your iPhone to see all the leached software Apple put into the phone?
Come on you guys, grow up. If there was an issue here Apple's lawyers would be all over it. Do you seriously think Palm is dumb enough to pull a stunt that was totally illegal, or that did not have Apple's approval where necessary?
What's all this strutting and chest thumping?
@icebike the way palm enabled the Pre to sync with itunes , pretending to be an iPod, is shady as Engadget discribes.
Explain why it's shady? Does that mean that Boot Camp is shady too? Or allowing a mac to connect to a windows network using SAMBA? I don't think so. I smell people feeling threatened here. If the iPhone is that good why would Apple worry about what Palm are doing? anyway, I don't believe that Palm would market a facility that they were concerned could and would be broken by Apple at anytime. That really would be crazy.
Truth: I run many apps at the same time. A jailbroken iPhone can not be competed agaist. But, my dog has a better camera than this phone.
@paulpenny:
A better comparison would be Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync: Apple licenses that from Microsoft. If they just tried to hack into it, it would be equally shady, and equally bad for Microsoft, Apple, and especially consumers...
@ Rene. Is that a better comparison? EAS enables push email from Exchange Server. It is perfectly OK to come up with an alternative way to get push email from Exchange Server, thus achieving the same end but without using EAS. Palm are not stealing any Apple software, they are just enabling their device to talk to another 3rd party software product.
In this case, Boot Camp is much more accurate comparison. Windows won't run on a Mac. This prevents some people from switching. So Apple comes up with their own solution which allows windows to be booted on a mac.
This is essentially exactly the same scenario. It is not done with Microsoft's consent but by an Apple "shady hack" (in your terminology). It now allows people who might have seen the inability of mac hardware to run windows as an obstacle to switching to do so without that worry. Microsoft could, if they wish, break that ability - in the same way Apple prevents OSX running on anything other than their own hardware.
I speak as an iPhone 3G user who likes both platforms and who will be getting a Pre when they become available in GSM flavour here in the UK.
@paulpenny.sync services =! OS
Palm creating drivers to run iPhone OS on Palm Pre would be that scenario... Provided iPhone OS was licensed OS implementation designed to run on any beige box hardware with driver support...
@paulpenny, actually BootCamp allows you to partition and format a live drive to be used for windows installation, that is not a hack. Think partition magic, its all hardware on the inside that just needs to be formated the right way. You still need to buy, or heaven forbid download a cracked copy of windows (to which I don't condone), and install it on that properly formated hard drive.
The limitations of doing this though, because some of the hardware is not supported, disables you from performing in a solely windows environment. Its like dual booting linux and windows. Big deal. Its no hack.
As per this convo, if they are doing it legally who cares. The issue is the fact thats it pretending to be something so it can access features. That is violating the iTunes Terms and Conditions. But hey in the end, if its an issue as others have said, Apple will deal with it.
No, Boot Camp is not a good comparison.
But Samba, which reimplements Microsoft's SMB/CIFS protocol, allowing Mac (really, any UNIX) clients and servers to appear as if they were windows resources, is.
Since Apple has relied on samba to allow Macs on Windows networks in every incarnation of OSX, it would be a bit hypocritical of them to claim such tactics are shady.
OK. I'll hold my hands up and say I don't know enough about the deep down details to argue the point about boot camp. However, building a device with software that allows it to connect interact with another 3rd party software application doesn't seem to me to be illegal, immoral or even sneaky.
Sensationalist journalism....
See, if Apple wasn't so monopolistic with its iPod franchise, Palm wouldn't have to resort to doing something like this (which isn't even all that bad). Apple is doing now with its iPods what Microsoft did with IE back in the day...
Why would you idiots even care how the Pre links to iTunes? Seriously? Are you losing out in some way? Is your precious iPhone going to spontaneously combust because a "non-apple" device is able to link with apple software?
This is a stupid topic. Everything should be able to link with iTunes just like everything can link with WMP. I really don't know why so many people are getting bent out of shape about this...
@ yourmom:
Good Words:
@ The rest:
Go ask apple if they have an app to suck my balls
Oh yeah and if you guys understood that the OS in webOS stands for open source you would realize that these phones are soon going to be completely your own and not like that assimilating drone phone over at apple. That means that sooner or later it would have connected to Itunes anyway. Why don't you guys go back to law school and understand case law and maybe you will grasp why linux has never been sued.
Wtf. U R all gaay. The iPhon sux. They forgot the buttons. Lollolololololololololololololololol.
My mom just bought me an iPhone in Las Vegas and I asked for the 3g. Since she's not very good with English,I'm kinda worried if she might've gotten me the old version. Do they still sell the old versions at AT&T stores?
Also,what is the 450 minutes-plan like? And does the Internet automatically work anywhere?
lol. iphones are garbage, ill stick to my hacked pre. at least my carrier and phone models maker wont launch a product with promises it cant keep, aka iphone with the mms still waiting to be launched. but hey, if your one of those bandwagon nerds whos only means of being "cool" is by purchasing an apple product and become one of the many other followers of trash, hey, so be it. and at least my hacked pre runs off a unix os which i can fully customize to how i want it, unlike a iphone, which essentially is garbage to begin with. but i do have to say one thing palm did drop the ball on.... APPS. wtf?!! im stuck with 200 homebrew apps that are pretty good, but dev. apps straight through palm would be even better. other than that, id rather own a pre any day over a iphone, id rather sleep better at night knowing im not following a trend rather than my own personal taste.
This is inspiring I think I will start a blog myself one day in italian of course. Great post, grazie.
I have noticed strange happenings between palm pre apple computer and ipod tocj