Apple plays softball with Palm
As you may have heard, Apple (AAPL) on Wednesday pulled the plug on a much-hyped feature of the Palm Pre: its ability to sync seamlessly with iTunes.
On Thursday Palm's (PALM) shares took a nosedive, falling 7.4% in early trading from Wednesday's high as the rest of the market was enjoying a midsummer bull run.
But by the end of the trading day, Palm was back where it started Wednesday, no worse for wear.
Because, really, for all the fuss that the trade press made about the flap — Google News turned up 159 articles and 39 blog items — was this the best Apple could do?
Apple COO Tim Cook, who was running the shop while Steve Jobs was on medical leave, has been making threatening noises about Palm ever since his former colleague — and now bitter rival — Jon Rubinstein unveiled the device that many hailed as an iPhone killer.
“We think competition is good. It makes us all better. And we are ready to suit up and go against anyone," Cook told analysts on a earnings call in January.
“However,” he added, his voice rising, “we will not stand for having our IP [intellectual property] ripped off, and we’ll use whatever weapons that we have at our disposal. I don’t know that I can be clearer than that.” (link)
The tenor of Cook's remarks, reiterated three months later, led analysts to believe that Apple was getting ready to take Palm to court. Speculation centered on a patent suit over Palm's use of multi-touch technology that Jobs had insisted was heavily protected by multiple patents and which other iPhone competitors — Google’s (GOOG) Android, for example — have been careful not to use.
“If faced with legal action,” a Palm spokesperson promptly responded, “we are confident that we have the tools necessary to defend ourselves.”
Perhaps they do, because the Pre has been selling for six weeks now and the threatened court actions still haven't materialized.
Instead we get a flap about iTunes.
It may not have been wise, as many have suggested, for Palm to make such a fuss about the Pre's ability to trick iTunes into thinking it was an iPod — something it was able to do because team Palm is chock-a-block with former Apple engineers.
After all, Apple could rewrite its iTunes software at will — and it did. Witness iTunes 8.2.1, released Wednesday, which as an Apple spokesperson helpfully pointed out, "disables devices falsely pretending to be iPods, including the Palm Pre."
This is hardly a death blow for Palm, however. Music syncing was not the only thing the Pre's software does well, and there are any number of third party programs that offer workarounds (the New York Times today recommends dazzboard; Wired.com likes Salling Media Sync).
Meanwhile, we're still waiting for Apple to bring on the heat. If Tim Cook has stronger stuff in his arsenal — as he has suggested twice now — we haven't seen it yet.
Softball photo by Karen Morris.
See also:
And for those Pre owners out there that still want itunes pick up any version you want here. Just remember not to upgrade when prompted.
@ Rattyuk
No, it isn't here yet, but I had a chance to play with one a few weeks ago. Thanks for the comments but you didn't quite get what I was trying to say.
Palm are not the perfect company, I am not trying to claim that, but they are the first company since Apple to have a chance of succesfully breaking the smartphone market in the way that Apple themselves did. As far as the iPhone keyboard, I have used it and don't like it. That doesn't mean that a software keyboard alternative would not be welcomed but I hope that the implementation is better than on the iPhone. I also hope that will prompt Apple to improve there implementation too. As far as ripping of someone elses property. Lets be serious here, the first touchscreen on a phone was in a Palm product. Apple just took the concept one step further. And as far as a checklist of features making a succesfull phone, well I agree totally. There are still too many things missing, even the cut & paste feature in the Pre is a little shoddy but Palm are making changes much quicker than Apple ever did when the iPhone was released. Ok, the remote wipe feature may not ring everyones bell, but the Pre is time and again being touted as an entertainment phone, and it isn't. Long term it is designed for business use, which makes things confusing as they are also pushing the ability to mix facebook, gmail and other contacts seemlessy. I think Palm do need to get there focus straight here too. The point however is that Palm are listening to there consumers and making the changes that they want, and if that makes the phone easier and better to use that can only be a good thing.
Yes Palm were lazy with media integration, iTunes was a catastrophe waiting to happen. They should have gone with one of the many companies out there who were willing to create software to help them do what they wanted. I don't want an iPhone and nothing against iTunes but I don't want that either, pushing that as a selling point was a big mistake, no question, but I think they will survive it.
I refer you however to what I said before, this is designed as a phone for business use, and they will be pushing that market in a big way, hence the details in the first webOS update. Which brings us around to focus again and what Palm really want this phone to be. I think people are going to be buying this product with certain expectations which will not be met, and that is a big shame. It is a great 1st attempt, and is still selling well, but anyone interested in it should make sure that it is exactly what they want, rather than buying it because the plans stateside for the Pre are cheaper than for the iPhone. Over here pricing is likely to be like for like, in fact for now over here the same provider has the iPhone and the Pre (to be released sometime before christmas). I will be buying a Pre because it is the right phone for me, not because it is necessarily better than all other phones in everyway. It does what I want it to do, and is being actively supported by a company who is willing to makes the changes the customer base want. How long did it actually take Apple to add cut and past to the iPhone for example. Thats where competition comes into it. If there was no competition then Apple could continues to sit around reaping the profits without improving the software. And as far as ease of use, I bow my head to Apple who have created a product which in that respect is considered by many a thing of beauty. But th Pre is also a pleasure to use and although maybe not as intuitive when first picked up has an interface which can rival the iPhone. If the updates keep coming then that can only get better too, but as I said before only time will tell.
There is plenty of room in the marketplace for more than one smartphone. Palm have with there continued sales proved that they have a product people want to buy, and that is what has given them the time they need to keep improving the concept. The Pre doesn't have to be perfect it has to reach a level which makes people willing to consider the alternatives which for too long they have not been doing. I think they have started to move in that direction.
Palm also have numerous patents which have been copied by the iPhone.
#7,268,775 which covers automatically adjusting display brightness using an ambient light sensor while leaving a user-selected brightness setting alone, just like the iPhone does it.
#7,007,239, "Method and apparatus for accessing a contacts database and telephone services"? Claim 10 is an almost exact description of the iPhone's phone app, buttons for dialing, call history, contacts, and speed dial that stay on-screen as you toggle between them.
#7,296,107, "System and method for detection of an accessory device connection status"? It covers leaving the display at full brightness instead of auto-dimming while connected to a power source during sync, just like the iPoine does.
#7,231,208, "User interface-technique for managing an active call": it describes in detail a conference call management system that's exactly like the iPhone's, you put one call on hold while you make another, and then you can independently manage each call from a single screen. Look familiar? As far as copying ideas and ripping off patents, the iPhone has infringed on numerous Palm patents with the iPhone. If Apple do try to sue Palm they may win, but Palm will counter sue and probably win also. Can you imagine Apple having to remove numerous features from there next phone. They wont take the risk.
Check out this article you may find it interesting:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/28/apple-vs-palm-the-in-depth-analysis/
You people are missing the point. Yes, for the 400,000 or so people who own a Pre, they don't have to upgrade to the newest version of iTunes.
But what of those people who also own an iPod and need to update iTunes to download a new firmware? Or those who updated the day iTunes 8.2.1 came out or just don't constantly read blogs about the Pre or iTunes and don't know iTunes is going to block their sync? What about the people who are updating iTunes now and are going to buy a Pre in the future?
Point is, yeah you can keep syncing with the older version of iTunes, but now Palm can't use that as part of their advertising scheme and the numbers of Pre users that can sync with iTunes are just going to drop from now on.
Okay, so a friend of mine bought a Pre a couple of weeks ago and I've been tinkering with it ever since. I've been truly hoping that it would provide the competition and be the catalyst that would get apple to finally update the iPhone to compete with some of the phones we see coming out of Europe (5-8 mp camera's, true MMS, HD playback, etc.) Unfortunately, the Pre is junk. It's slow, it's awkward to use, the keyboard is useless for people with average size fingers, it freezes, it dies quickly, it drops calls constantly, the screen is plastic. I don't like the apple cult, but so far they make the best kool-aid. Will someone please let these companies know that it's about the user experience, not about how much new stuff they can come up with (see XP vs. Vista)
@Simon,
I am glad that you have chosen the Pre. I hope you are happy with it.
"Sure Apple are going to try to ruin the party". Please understand the reason behind this. Palm used knowledge of the workings of the iTunes and the iPod to spoof iTunes into thinking the Pre was an iPod. But worse than that – they promoted this HACK as a feature in their launch of the Pre and in their advertising. It is one thing to make it synch using other people's technology – quite another to wave a flag from the rooftops promoting the fact.
"Apple fanboys seem to forget that Jon Rubenstein who was behind the building of the original iPod" As i have posted on numerous occasions the Pre is what the iPhone would have been without Steve Jobs input. In fact the list of specs appear to be a check list of things missing from the original iPhone in all the reviews. And thereby we have the first mistake. A checklist of features does not a feature phone make ask anyone with a WinMo phone. The point with the iPhone is that it is not a list of features but an ease of use thing.
"Only time will tell how successful the Pre will prove to be, but Palm have plenty of time." That is where you are wrong. Palm were thrown a lifeline by Elevation Partners. The Pre HAS to be right. There will be no third chance.
The rest of your post appears to be promoting some kind of business features for remote wipe, again a list of features, not a reason for buying one.
The keyboard in the iPhone is NOT an issue – I found it ironic that in the Pre reviews a lot of people mentioned that although, yes, it has a physical keyboard, it's size makes it difficult to use and the fact it had no virtual keyboard made it doubly frustrating. But that's OK – Palm can easily rip off the iPhone keyboard and all will be right.
"The once powerful Apple have some serious competition in this arena," When were they once powerful? Maybe around the time of the Apple II and the release of the Mac 128 but that is a while ago.
"Remember these words, ‘Competition and ‘Choice’. Palm may not be the downfall of the iPhone but they can only bring good news to all of us as consumers." Look I am all for competition but competition does not mean ripping off other peoples ideas. Look at the iTunes debacle – WHY did Palm take the lazy way out and decide to spoof their product to pretend to be the competition? There is ONLY one reason they decided to do that. And that reason would be to try and garner public reaction and getting the iTunes "monopoly" looked at. How does this improve things? If people want something better than iTunes why don't people do it – god knows Microsoft have been trying for years to do it and even with their resources have failed miserably at every attempt. The fact is that Palm was lazy with media integration and they have paid the price. There were plenty of other ways to do this but Palm decided to hack their way out rather than do actual work. Lazy, lazy, lazy.
Couple of other points Simon. Try looking up the word "their" and try using it when referring to companies rather than "there". And how is the Pre doing in the UK – didn't realize it was actually out over there yet.
Palm may not revolutionise the face of smart-phones in the market place by releasing the Pre, but it does offer 2 very important things, ‘Competition’ and ‘Choice’. I have personally chosen the Pre. The SDK is now here and it really is time for all of us to have some fun. Sure Apple are going to try to ruin the party, in fact they already have. Updating there software to add new abilities to the iPhone is surely a case of playing catch up with other manufacturers, and then there is the issue of iTunes. Version 8.2 recognised the Pre as an iPhone or iPod Touch. That didn’t last long, the feature was promptly removed with the release of version 8.21. Big deal. Users can still use version 8.2 if they wish, and to be honest I never wanted an iPod and iTunes has never been a must have piece of software for me, there are numerous other free pieces of software out there which do the same job and better. Apple fanboys seem to forget that Jon Rubenstein who was behind the building of the original iPod seems to have done a lot in making the Pre what it is today as one of the lead designers. Had this product been badged as an iPhone, fanboys would have lapped it up. It all comes down to marketing and brand loyalty. Apple may have a head start here but Palm have had a loyal user base for many years, and I am sorry guys but it is growing and there is nothing that any of you can do about it. Only time will tell how successful the Pre will prove to be, but Palm have plenty of time. Already there are plans for webOS 1.1 (hopefully before August 1st) and the Pre has been going for just over a month. Updates include an IT initiated remote wipe, Device requires PIN/password, Improved PIN/password complexity (numeric or alphanumeric), Minimum PIN/password length, Device wipe on X number of failed password attempts and auto-lock after X minutes of inactivity. Surely given time there will be much more to come, and yes this argument about a hardware or software keyboard is valid, but its just a matter of a software update, and lets face facts, the iPhone will never have both but the Pre may well have sooner than you think. Palm already have more apps for the Pre than Apple did at this stage of the iPhones development, with many more to come now the SDK is live. Palm may be bringing up the rear but it is Apple who are having to reconsider what their customers really want. The once powerful Apple have some serious competition in this arena, and there is more to come, not Just from Palm. Now it is Apple who are looking over there shoulder, acting nervous. One thing however is certain, that in one way or another the next year will be very interesting. Remember these words, ‘Competition and ‘Choice’. Palm may not be the downfall of the iPhone but they can only bring good news to all of us as consumers.
Palm touted the ability of the Pre to sync to the iTunes store as one of its cool attribute and Apple responded in kind by reminding Palm that it does not own the platform and is not allowed to sync to it as if it were an iPod of iPhone. Apple simply did not let the door open for a competitor to come in and pilfer its software offering for free and decided to slam the door shut. Any business entity worth its name will surely try to protect its asset from being stolen in broad daylight by a rival and it is incredible that some people will actually think that Apple is in the wrong for protecting its intellectual properties from being stolen by a competing product maker.
@Doug, New York, NY
"And I don’t recall anyone credible ever hailing the Pre as an “iPhone killer” as you claim.. "
Perhaps you missed it. Roger MacNamee, part of Elevation Partners, the people who put the money into Palm to release the Pre said the following:
“You know the beautiful thing: June 29, 2009, is the two- year anniversary of the first shipment of the iPhone,” McNamee said today in an interview in San Francisco. “Not one of those people will still be using an iPhone a month later.”
In three weeks the Palm shipped 150,000 units of the Pre. The weekend that the iPhone 3Gs shipped they shifted about 1.5 million units. He was utterly wrong.
Why do some people take anything that threatens the domination of Apple as a threat to the honour of their family?
Why do they yearn Apple lawyers to tear the "gnat" apart or philosophize to downplay a smaller competitor?
It really puzzles me, I am not an "Apple hater", there are very few of those, they are an invention of the people who turned Apple into a cult-like following – every religion must have bogies, you know.
Apple kicked Palm in their softballs.
All this Pre/iTunes blockage will be forgotten by next week. There is probably plenty of alternatives to getting music on the Pre and now there will be even more opportunities for developers to design a proper music database for the Pre.
Steve from MN says "How many sales have the Pre had compared to the iPhone?
It isn’t worth the legal battle to swat a knat. It will die on it’s own."
So what was the little fit over a minnow like Psystar then, fanboy?
Philip Elmer-DeWitt, when are you going to "bring on the heat" and write a real article??? If the only thing you can come up with to complain about Apple is that they haven't sued Palm, I don't really see the point of your writing.. It seems you don't like Apple, but you can't think of anything bad about them, so you just pick something of no consequence and try to make it sound bad, but you don't do a very good job of it.. That's just my take on this article…
Andrew – "it may only be fly sized but it seems to be getting at Apple well enough to spend the $$ to rewrite and release a new iTunes"
Do you honestly think that it took any effort or $$ for apple to add a few lines of code to iTunes?? This was approximately the 57th version of iTunes released, and there were other changes in addition to identifying the Pre. I don't think it was that big of a deal for Apple.
The funny thing is this may come back to bite Apple in some ways. I love my iPod and my iTunes, but I also love my Pre and the ability to synch music from my iTunes. Apple is constantly releasing iTunes updates that don't really seem to improve performance. As I have done for the past 6 months, when that popup appears telling me there is a new iTunes available, I will be clicking cancel.
Steve- Is that the only comeback offered by iPhone fanatics?
Palm is not a GNAT, it may only be fly sized but it seems to be getting at Apple well enough to spend the $$ to rewrite and release a new iTunes – which Palm users don't have to upgrade to so they keep their sync abilities.
I love Apple people who quote sales as the end-all be-all of retorts.
I'm sure Apple won't hesitate to go after the Pre if there's any infringement. But I'm equally sure that they'll only go after them if they're absolutely convinced they can win the case. That kind of assurance takes time to put together.
This is not the sort of thing you want to rush into.
This article about Apple playing softball with Palm has inspired 'my muse' to think the following nonsense:
The Pre is looking and acting pretty much like an iPhone (multi-touch screen, iTunes). The iPhone is bound to AT&T in the US while the Palm Pre is not. Apple needs to expand its market because ATT/Apple deal may be reaching its potential market saturation…
How about Apple buying Palm outright?!! Apple would spend money -of which they have plenty- and the R&D has been done by Palm already! Apple could at least buy a big chunk of the company to avoid antitrust litigation, eh? eh! Let's buy Palm shares!! (maybe not)
Palm, although an offensive to AAPL move on their iTunes, was buying time. Pre users can get Amazon's tunes if they want, whats the big deal?
You can't run Excel Mobile (or any Mobile Office app) on iPhone so why all the chest-beating? and you can't connect your Pre to Verizon, so what's all the chest-beating? It's because that's what men do…. LOL.
While I'm also wondering if & when Apple will take legal action against Palm, a helpful benchmark is how long it took Apple to file suit against Pystar.
Apple waited for what seemed like forever to finally take action against them.
It will be interesting to see what they do.
If Palm really did rip off multi-touch, which on the surface, it looks like they did, Apple should release their very aggressive – and not often fed – team of rabid lawyers.
Or Apple may loose more because they copied and used many of Palm's IP. There were discussions online at engadget and other sites about all known copyrights owned by both companies and if they find them in court who will loose more and it was Apple who lost mainly because of their Iphone sales. That is why they will sue any company other than Palm.
Big deal, Pre users just don't have to download the new version.
Any PC user who uses iTunes is foolish anyway. There are many better platforms out there.
What's all this fuss about iTunes. I have been extremely satisfied with the Amazon music store using my Palm PRE. The Pre has been out for 5 weeks, yes five weeks, and everyone is expecting them to have 100,000 Applications available. I don't know what planet most of these people are from but they have to realize on Planet earth it will take a short time, and I emphasize the word SHORT, to fill the pipeline with plenty of applications. The Pre is as good as my iPhone, and in some cases substantially a better phone. The iPhone can't touch it when it comes to Multi-tasking. In my opinion it has a better User Interface, I can use my spare battery when need be, however on the iPhone I would always run out of charge and have to recharge the battery because I couldn't use a spare. I never make mistakes on the PRE's qwerty keyboard but was always frustrated with my virtual keyboard on the iPhone. What I enjoy about my iphone is the access to numerous applications, however I don't expect this advantage to the iPhone to last beyond 6-12 months. According to Palm thousands of developer are already hard at work producing new applications for the WebOS and since the programming language needed to produce these applications is prosaic amongst most developers you can expect lots of interesting applications to hit the Palm App store very soon.
Putting the hype aside Palm has done a wonderful job with the introduction of the WebOS and its first device, the Pre. Going by what they have done on their first devise I can tell you they are solid and will unequivocally chip away at every other vendor, including the Apple. A good case in point is myself.
My recent experiences with Sprint have also been beyond my expectations and I enjoy getting better service than ATT also at a $50 discount. 
Blackberry has 46% of the global market share of smart phones. Palm needs to forget about Apple which has a snippet at around 10.7% and focus on being the blackberry killer which a lot of people think it already is. Palm will not die. This device is bringing them back in play.
It's only a "gnat" because it's been available for, what, 6 weeks? The Pre has gotten nothing but great press from a media that's weary of the iPhone lovefest. The Pre is the best option for people who want a MULTITASKING Smartphone. And it also just happens to be a good *phone*, something the iPhone just can't seem to get right.
Agreed,,, Pre will have a few months in the bright sunshine before fading into the dark recesses of "also rans"… Or maybe Dell will buy it as one of its last gasps for life.
I don't think anyone would call the Palm Pre a "bitter rival" of the iPhone. And I don't recall anyone credible ever hailing the Pre as an "iPhone killer" as you claim.. If you are "still waiting for Apple to bring on the heat", you will be waiting a long time, as there is no need for Apple to "bring on the heat". What Apple and everyone else already realizes is that the Pre never posed serious competition for Apple. All it did was give the Apple haters something to rally behind.. However that is now over.. In a year, no one will remember the Pre, except those who made the mistake of buying it.
How many sales have the Pre had compared to the iPhone?
It isn't worth the legal battle to swat a knat. It will die on it's own.
Apple, Apple, Apple… you are like the proverbial dog. All bark and no bite. Pretty interfaces yet no substance to your offerings.
I'll be getting a Pre soon, and I couldn't care less about your "precious" iTunes. I have far better software to manage my music, and better places to get it than your store. Your apps? You know where can stick 'em.
Why are most tech writers such ignorant business and legal analysts?
Taking one action does not preclude the other Philip – Apple has plenty of time to take legal action should they deem it justified.
Apple does not need to fiddle with Palm. Apple sells more phones in a month or so than Palm will in a year.
Let Palm fail or flail, or be bought out by a failing or flailing company, all on its own.
The iTunes update was just the removal of a free ride that Palm was taking.
BTW – What's with 'FORTUNE BRAINSTORM TECH' and the Tron-like logo?
There is little or no point in swatting an insect sized player as Palm. What phone they appear to be selling they are selling at the expense of players other than Apple – look at Nokia's latest figures – look at Sony Ericsson's latest figures.
If, as suggested by McNamee, "Not one of those people will still be using an iPhone a month later." then Apple may have needed to call in the big guns. But to be honest the Pre compared to the 3GS launch was a damp squib.
Because, really, for all the fuss that the trade press made about the flap — Google News turned up 159 articles and 39 blog items — was this the best Apple could do?
apple did what any company would do if a competitor was pirating it's proprietary information.. 159 articles and 30 something blogs may seem minor to you, and perhaps it is.. This is the palm pre we're talking about.. what kind of attention does the palm pre get on any given day.. nada
you're attempting to make something out of nothing.. write a real story
The Palm Pre is a awesome phone and people really need to respect this phone and the makers of Palm and what they did to create such a excellent phone. In a whole lot of ways it's better than the Iphone 3GS. Just wait until the developers start making more Apps for this phone. And there are going to be a lot of Apps and this will be surely exciting competition between Apple and Palm. I own a Palm Pre and I am very satisfied with the phone and the fact that it is with Sprint which has a reasonable price and has a better price than that what AT@T is doing for the Iphone 3GS. Go Palm Pre!!!!