Don’t mess with Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) or you will get shut down. That’s the message the software giant is sending to Palm (NASDAQ:PALM) over its new Pre handset. Apple reportedly issued a software update to iTunes to fix software bugs and address “an issue with verification of Apple devices,” meaning if it’s not an iPhone or iPod (aka the Pre), it can no longer synch with iTunes.
Whether they wanted the comparison or not, the Pre has been critiqued side-by-side to the iPhone since it was still just an idea to Palm. Granted, every smartphone following the original iPhone’s launch has been subject to the same comparison, but Apple took particular notice of the Pre. Acting CEO Tim Cook threatened on its first-quarter earnings call that it would go after anyone that “ripped off its intellectual property,” but it was clearly a warning issued against Palm.
Protecting its intellectual property is precisely what Apple is doing here, considering that it can’t really be worried about the Pre’s device sales – Palm has only sold around 55,000 Pres compared to Apple’s more than a million. The synching will still work if users don’t update their software, however, that will likely be something they have to do eventually. While the move is not that surprising, it is likely disappointing to Pre owners who were counting on synching to iTunes following Palm’s marketing of the capability. But, to be fair, if Apple didn’t take care of this now, its lawyers eventually would have.