Apple Tells Palm: No Sync For You

Apple posted a terse message on its Web site Tuesday saying that its popular music download software may not work with devices other than iPhones and iPods.

"Apple is aware that some third parties claim that their digital media players are able to sync with Apple software. However, Apple does not provide support for, or test for compatibility with, non-Apple digital media players and, because software changes over time, newer versions of Apple's iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with non-Apple digital media players."

While Apple's notice did not single out new Palm Pre devices, many tech watchers read between the lines.

"Translation: "Nice iTunes syncing you've got, Palm. Be a shame if something happened to it,"" wrote John Gruber, who broke the news on his Daring Fireball site.

While Pre users can still buy songs through the Amazon MP3 store and listen to music through the device's built-in player, those services are not in the same elite league as iTunes.

A Palm spokesperson told the Web site mypalmpre that Apple's move is akin to cutting off its nose to spite its face.

"If Apple chooses to disable media sync in a future version of iTunes, it will be a direct blow to their users who will be deprived of a seamless synchronization experience," Palm spokesperson Lynn Fox told the Web site. "However, people will have options. They can stay with the iTunes version that works to sync their music on their Pre, they can transfer the music via USB, and there are other third-party applications we could consider."