Developer “DVD” Jon Johansen has posted a brief article explaining the Palm Pre’s unsupported “Media Sync” feature, which allows it to appear and sync as an iPod through iTunes. According to information provided to Johansen, the Pre’s Mass Storage interface identifies itself as an iPod, enabling it to trick iTunes and sync.
Johansen notes, however, that the root USB node still identifies itself as a Palm Pre, meaning it should be fairly easy for Apple to disable the syncing feature. As of iTunes 8.2, the Pre can still sync with iTunes, but given the short amount of time between the discovery of the Pre’s sync mode and the software’s release, it is extremely unlikely that Apple had time to make the necessary changes in order to block the device.
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