Palm Pre strikes back in iTunes arms race

When Palm announced earlier this year that its Pre smart phone could connect to Apple's iTunes, many fans thought, "Cool, but for how long?"

Apple, a company not known for playing well with others, did not authorize this syncing feature. Palm's engineers just figured out a way to trick iTunes into thinking the Pre is an iPod – the first instance of a third-party device coming with such software built-in.

Sure enough, last week's iTunes update killed the feature. However, Palm said Thursday night that a free, automatic update will once again allow the Pre to transfer music, photos, and video through Apple's software. Cool, but for how long?

The Pre is a direct competitor to Apple's iPhone. In fact, Pre's carrier, Sprint, recently ran an ad directly targeting Apple's users, saying that "the Palm Pre does things the iPhone can’t."

The AP reminds readers that this back-and-forth battle between Apple and Palm is a new but growing rivalry. Palm's chairman and CEO Jon Rubinstein "once was an executive at Apple and oversaw the iPod. The Pre includes a 'multi-touch' screen like Apple's iPhone, which lets users do things like pinch the display to zoom in and out."

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Will either side give up this tit-for-tat? Let us know below or on Twitter.