The Pre in iPod's clothing
Palm has quite a checkered history when it comes to syncing your Pre with iTunes, going as far as to make the device report itself as an iPod, and leaving lingering speculation that Apple would block the device with future iTunes updates -- which is exactly what has happened. But many Pre owners were surprised (and relieved) to hear that Palm had already fixed the issue, only a week after the problem surfaced.So, how did Palm manage to get sync working again? Well, the good folks over at PreCentral have discovered that they pulled it off by making the Pre report that its USB chipset is developed by Apple. This change effectively makes the device appear even more like an iPod, as well as further ensnares Palm into what could potentially be a nasty web of legal issues.
While it may not seem like such a bad thing to let iTunes recognize the Pre as an iPod, the problem lies in how Palm is going about doing it. All USB devices report a plethora of information back to the operating system when they are plugged in, including a device ID, a vendor ID that usually identifies the chipset manufacturer, a manufacturer string to identify the name of the company that built the device, as well as other information that identifies various capabilities that the device might have.
Typically, a combination of the vendor ID and device ID can be easily used to identify a specific device, which is how most applications and drivers communicate with USB devices. When you plug in your iPhone, for example, the system sees a device with a vendor ID of 0x05ac (which identifies it as an Apple device), and a product ID like 0x1294. The system then checks to see if any drivers have registered to be notified when this device combination is plugged in, and it continues from there. In the case of the Pre, however, Palm is identifying the vendor ID as 0x05ac, tricking the operating system into thinking it sees an Apple USB device.
As you can see, this process relies on the IDs provided to be correct in order for things to work properly. Because of this, the USB Implementers Forum (commonly called USB-IF) oversees the assignment and handling of these IDs to ensure that things go smoothly. Companies who wish to manufacture USB chipsets have to apply for a vendor ID number, as well as pay annual membership or licensing fees to the USB-IF to be an authorized vendor. So not only is Palm causing technical problems by misrepresenting the device to the computer, but it is doing so by using an ID that Apple has paid for and has the sole legal right to use. Palm, on the other hand, is likely in violation of their own agreement with the USB-IF, which clearly states that "Unauthorized use of assigned or unassigned USB Vendor ID Numbers and associated Product ID Numbers are strictly prohibited." And yes, they do have their own ID for use on their other hardware.
So what does Palm have to say about all of this? They have turned the tables back on Apple, saying that they believe Apple is improperly using the vendor ID to limit the devices that consumers are able to use with iTunes. Wait, what? Isn't that *exactly* what the ID is there for? Most programs that communicate with any USB device check the vendor and device IDs to ensure that they are talking to the right device. If you've ever used the tools that came with your scanner, you've seen this before. HP's Scan Pro checks the USB devices to see if any of them are supported scanners. This is the sole reason these IDs exist, so that the software can identify a connected piece of hardware, and determine whether or not it is compatible. You wouldn't expect HP's Scan Pro to be able to download pictures from your Fujitsu ScanSnap, so why expect iTunes to show the Pre some love?
Don't take this the wrong way, I do think that iTunes and the Pre should get along, but Palm needs to go about it the proper way. Disguising the Pre as an iPod is just like a wolf dressing in sheep's clothing, but things won't go well for the wolf when the shepherd catches up with it.
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Palm has quite a checkered history when it comes to syncing your Pre with iTunes, going as far as to make the device report itself as an...
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To mangle an old saying:
"Many days are for the Wolf, but one day only for the Shepherd"
In today's digital environment however, things are not so decisive for the shepherd.
Let the games continue...
As the overwhelming dominant player in the digital music market, Apple is being anti-competitive here and should not be allowed to restrict A Palm device from reasonably accessing iTunes.
July 28 2009 at 2:01 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIf you get right down to it , What if iTunes messes up your Palm Pre ??? Is palm going to replace that Pre for you and say sorry for these . Or are they going to say sorry but we didn't saw we supported iTunes . Making you as a consumer to go out and buy a hole new Pre cause of your contract with Sprint ..
July 28 2009 at 2:26 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyUgh - the people here, complaining that Apple should let Palm do this and that Palm is all about "freedom, man" and Apple is being the big bad - get over the irrational Apple hatred. This is a pretty open-and-shut thing - Palm's violating their agreements with USB-IF. Doesn't matter if they're doing it to poke at Apple or anybody else - it's wrong. Case closed. No amount of whining from tech nerds changes that.
July 27 2009 at 10:42 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWell, locking in ITMS to only Apple devices is an anti-competitive practice.
However, until that matter is settled in a court of law, I don't think Apple should "let" palm sync with itunes, but both Apple and Palm should stop being pussies and complain about violation of USB-IF.
How is impersonating a USB device a "legal matter?"
July 27 2009 at 2:17 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply1) Samba is a very good comparison.
An NO it's not an open protocol. Go ask the Samba developers about the endless years they spent reverse engineering the protocol, about Microsoft's moves to make their lives harder, and if the arguments we've been reading here don't remind them of something ( it's never about controling users' choice, it's to "maximise their experience" )
2) To clarify my pov about this issue: it's not about "Apple giving palm some love"... I think nobody expects that.
I'm just getting more and more worried, seeing Apple giving me so much hate just because I'm a Palm user. AFAIK having the Pre sync with iTunes didn't cost Apple a cent, and they didn't have to support it. However, they were ready to spend money to break it.
Yesterday, Apple was targetting creative, power users, and was trying to offer them a great platform. Today, unless you're a teenager who listens to Apple, phones Apple, eats Apple and craps Apple, you're not a "client" anymore, as I've read it in a previous post here ( which when I consider who much money I spent on theirs products, is kind of hard to hear ).
Ya GOTTA admit, that's a good market to aspire for. The older we get, the less you'll be in the impulse buying mood (on average) We're not as good of a consumer as we used to be. A smart company will continue to target the youthful demographic as that way you're cultivating a group that creves, welcomes, and expects change (ie doesn't know/care about Appleworks or OS9).
July 26 2009 at 4:12 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyYou can't fault Apple for creating iTunes and making it one of the best music and media database/jukebox application around.
Palm should either create their own music and media application that works as well or better than iTunes (yeah right), or like suggested already, create their own app that sync through the iTunes XML.
Apple (and others) are above spoofing? Here's the browser identification string from Safari on WinXP:
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US) AppleWebKit/528.16 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Safari/528.16
The Palm Pre is basically telling the USB host, "Hi, I'm an Apple iPod made by Palm", just as Safari says "Hi, I'm a Mozilla browser made by Apple"
Most every browser reports itself as Mozilla due to early web server software which checked the user agent string. IE does the same thing.
There are a lot of things out there that spoof themselves for compatibility sake, but the problem with Palm doing this is they are violating a contract and using licensed vendor information without permission. Not to mention they are doing so in order to allow their device to work with an application that was not intended to work with it, which is not as ubiquitous as different web browsers sharing an identification string.
Actually, one thing I like about this issue is that it may actually get resolved. Palm has filed a complaint. Apple will reply or file their own complaint. And a third party will make a decision - hopefully within a reasonable period of time. I strongly suspect that Palm is in the wrong here. But my opinion doesn't matter. A governing body that actually understands the issues will be the final arbitrator.
July 25 2009 at 4:47 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyPersonally, this shouldn't have anything to do with Apple themselves but with the USB-IF at this point. Obviously their violating a term for using USB period by using Apple's hardware ID for USB devices. As I said in a earlyer comment, its similar to when XFree (used to be THE major coder of the X Windows System GUI code in most Linux distros) violated the GNU's contract, leading to many issues and most distros dumping their code in favor to XOrg's. I can see this leading to many headaches ahead for Palm, though thankfully they can easily change it via a firmware update, like they did to implement this in the first place.
The Palm Pre is a great smart phone but they could of had a much better idea for iTunes syncing than to fake Apple's hardware ID.
I wonder how many of the apple defenders here are using a jailbroken iphone? How many jailbreak faqs/app reviews/tips etc are blogged here? Clearly most people are unhappy playing in apple's walled garden and will do what it takes to get out. Yet when a company, not a group of hackers, come out with a circumvention method its suddenly wrong.
Lets be real here, apple needs to understand the desires of its customers and know when to look the other way. In case you haven't noticed, resentment towards apple is building. If they are smart, they will realize this before they get true competition. And make no mistake, competition will come.
What everyone here seems to be ignoring is the fact that Palm did not want to do this. Their first method of syncing did not spoof the USB ID, but Apple's fix which cannot be defended in any way other than as an attempt to prevent operability made Palm's new method the only way to make it work again.
When I say it cannot be defended, you have to understand that Palm is using an older simple protocol for communication with iTunes, in such a way that it would be unlikely to cause any error with iTunes. They still arent misrepresenting themselves entirely, as the Pre still identifies itself as a Pre, just not by way of the USB ID.
You people all scream, "im a fanboy".
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