Palm brings iTunes syncing back to the Pre

IDG News Service - Palm reenabled iTunes syncing for owners of its Pre smartphone on Thursday, overcoming a recent Apple move that blocked the handset's access to music stored in the latest version iTunes.

The release of Palm's webOS 1.1 adds new features for enterprise users, like the ability to remotely wipe data stored on a lost phone, but the most important features for consumers may be the restoration of the Palm Media Sync feature, which lets the Pre connect and sync DRM-free media files with iTunes.

"Oh, and one more thing: That's right -- you once again can have seamless access to your music, photos and videos from the current version of iTunes (8.2.1)," John Traynor, vice president of business products wrote on the Palm blog Thursday.

The "one more thing" comment could be an unspoken jab at Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who likes to offer up "one more thing" at Apple events.

Palm released the Pre in early June saying it offered a very easy and elegant way to connect to a previous version of iTunes. Then, last week, Apple updated iTunes to prevent syncing to non-Apple devices.

Palm's move drew some criticism from users, who said it seemed typical of the company, which has had hardware problems with the Pre and has a history of irregularities with its products.

Apple, which has taken a direct approach to the syncing issue, on Palm's latest salvo.

Palm said the new WebOS1.1 brings several additions to support for Exchange ActiveSync, including remote wipe, password requirements and inactivity timeout. The improvements are focused on business users, but there are a few goodies for everyone, Traynor wrote. The update, for example, allows for person reminders in the contacts applications. When enabled, a message will pop up when someone calls with a note or reminder that's specific to that caller, Traynor noted.