The Palm Pre has a large touch screen, slide-out keyboard and fast Web browsing. Palm also likes to point out the smartphone’s ability to link to iTunes, Apple’s music and media store.
But Apple wants to make sure the iPhone is the only cell phone that can do that. So it changed its software to block the Pre’s access to iTunes.
Now Palm is calling foul and is trying to rally the consumer electronics industry to its defense. Palm says Apple, which allows only its own devices to connect directly with iTunes software, is misusing the standards put in place to foster interoperability between computers and devices using a USB connection.
Palm has filed a complaint with the USB Implementers Forum, an industry group established by technology companies that developed the technology that links computers to other electronic devices, claiming Apple is restraining trade.
Predicting the outcome of this particular filing is tricky, said Mike Abramsky, an analyst with the investment firm RBC Capital Markets. “There isn’t much precedent for this case,” he said. “It’s breaking new ground. In my mind, ultimately the users are the arbiters in the outcome of these situations.”
The forum would not comment on when it would respond to Palm’s filing.
Palm accomplishes the feat by duping the iTunes software into recognizing the phone as an Apple music player, allowing it to synchronize and transfer files between the phone and a personal computer. The tactic has raised some eyebrows among those who think that Palm’s approach is itself a breach of standards set by the USB governing board.
But Palm says its strategy of masquerading as an iPod is acceptable because it is in response to Apple’s restriction. “We think we are consistent with our compliance,” said Douglas B. Luftman, an associate general counsel for Palm. “We’re not trying to appear to…