Palm to Apple: your move

Jake Widman
Friday, 24 July 2009 10:10

Your IT - Mobility

Palm released version 1.1 of the Pre's WebOS operating system, which, in addition to adding a few new features, restores the smartphone's ability to sync with iTunes.

iTunes syncing was one of the advertised features when the Pre was released last June.

It was also one of the most curious, since Apple is known to move quickly to keep interlopers out of the iTunes/iPod ecosystem, and nobody quite knew how Palm pulled the feat off in the first place.

As expected, Apple soon released an update to iTunes -- version 8.2.1, released last week -- that broke the syncing functionality.

Today, though, Palm quietly restored it with WebOS 1.1. The version information merely says it "resolves an issue preventing media sync from working with latest version of iTunes (8.2.1)."

The update adds other enhancements as well. New Exchange ActiveSync policies are implemented, such as the ability for IT administrators to require a password, to force a phone to go into a locked state after a certain time, and to remotely erase all the data on the phone.

The operating system update also fixes issues with proper Facebook and Google contact syncing and adds  a few new features, such as a new Forward gesture in the Web application and the ability to use emoticons in messaging.

It also now supports NFL Mobile Live from Sprint, enabling Pre owners to watch American football on their phones.

Plus, it syncs with iTunes.