Awaz Apni

Palm's executive chairman is Jon Rubinstein, once head of hardware engineering at Apple. And it just so happens that the Palm Pre -- his currently gestating baby boy -- knows exactly how to sync with iTunes, and the code that tricks iTunes into thinking the phone is an iPod is built right into its firmware. No user hacks, no extra software needed. Apple won't be pleased. At the All Things Digital D7 conference this week, Rubinstein demonstrated the iTunes syncing ability on stage with the Wall Street Journal 's Walt Mossberg. Walt asked how he thought Apple would feel about Palm using iTunes, to which Rubinstein claimed Apple is "practically a monopolist" and that people should be able to use music they pay for in any way they like. Fair enough. They can do that easily, however, by dragging and dropping their DRM-free music from anywhere on their computer to any supported device. Palm doesn't need to use iTunes at all, and Rubinstein's claim, while admi...

The Guardian reports that O2 is dancing the happy dance after scoring the exclusive rights to the Palm Pre , fending off rivals such as Orange and T-Mobile in a wedding-bouquet-style catfight over the hotly anticipated mobile phone . No doubt O2 is hoping the Pre will help it keep the early adopters it won with its exclusive deal to push the the iPhone , which could soon be set free from its exclusivity chains in the UK and be available on other networks. The Pre could also tempt Apple-haters, who have hailed the Pre as their touchscreen saviour, to move over to the bubbly blue network. As a mixed crowd of iPhone lovers and loathers alike, we chatted about our pre-Pre anxiety in last week's CNET UK podcast . O2 wouldn't comment on the deal, calling it "rumour and speculation". What is it : Touchscreen webOS phone with slide-out keyboard What we think : It's not without its flaws, but, thanks to the solid webOS platform, the Pre is a worthy rival to the iPhone We...