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Palm media sync is a feature of webOS that synchronizes seamlessly with iTunes, giving you a simple and easy way to transfer DRM-free music, photos and videos to your Palm Pre.(2) Simply connect Pre to your PC or Mac via the USB cable, select “media sync” on the phone, and iTunes will launch on your computer desktop. You can then choose which DRM-free media files to transfer.

Source: Palm

There’s no question that what Palm has done is clever. With the exception of DRM-encrypted music and video, it provides Pre owners with the regular iTunes media syncing experience — which is to say the best media syncing experience.

In terms of legal risk, this move almost makes me think that Palm is trying to provoke Apple into filing a lawsuit. The danger for Palm in such a suit is with all of the former Apple engineers now working for Palm. (There are many.) Did they use inside knowledge of the iPod/iTunes USB interface to implement the WebOS “media sync” feature? Palm’s not stupid — or at least Jon Rubinstein is not — so I would wager that Palm was careful to “clean-room” reverse-engineer the protocol. But if Apple sues, Palm would be forced to prove this in court, and in the meantime, they could be faced with the public perception that they’ve stolen Apple’s IP.

I know Palm is now the underdog, and I’m rooting for the Pre to be a success. Competition is good for the industry. But this move strikes me as more desperate than scrappy.

Source: Daring Fireball

We all know that iTunes is well established and used by hundreds of millions of users. No surprise than to see Palm sync with it. It would not be surprising also to see Apple fight back and block the Palm from syncing at all in the next release (which went out last night). Yes, it will be a game of cat-and-mouse for a while but then, Apple can sue Palm for IP infringement in the meantime. Palm is known to be in such difficulties that the Pre might be their only hope to survive. Also, Palm’s stock increased by 357% since last January. Personnally, I think it is a tour de force considering the bad economy. They played well with marketing and the geek community.

Apple might also use this as an opportunity to diversify. Apple should ask for licence fees. OK, they want to get market shares with the iPhone, so they shouldn’t do that now but what if? Apple was once seen as a monopoly because of iTunes, and it is still considered this way. The iPhone might create the same monopoly in a few years from now. After 2 years, they grabbed 13% of the market bypassing Microsoft and getting very close to RIM.In a few years, they might need competitors like Palm to blurry the monopoly image a bit.

That’s why I don’t think Apple will sue Palm right away. They might just ask for some fees or exchange it with other Palm’s IP.

We will see soon enough. I’ll keep an eye open on this one.