Palm Pre Connects With iTunes Software & Store.

NEW YORK - Palm says that its much-awaited new smart phone, the Pre, can connect to Apple's iTunes software and download music and photos just as if it were an iPod or iPhone.



The feature might be unique for a device not made by Apple, though third-party software is available that lets some digital music players masquerade as iPods in iTunes.

Palm's new phone goes on sale in America on June 6, with Sprint Nextel as the exclusive launch carrier. It will be US$200 with a two-year contract and a rebate, competing with Apple's iPhone in the market for high-end smart phones.

Jon Rubinstein, Palm's executive chairman and former Apple executive, said he didn't worry about objections from his former employer.

"We're trying to make customers happy," he said at The Wall Street Journal's D: All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad, California, where he offered a demonstration. "It's a great feature."

An Apple spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Also Thursday, the chief executive of Verizon Wireless, Lowell McAdam, said his company will carry the Pre within six months, although a Sprint Nextel spokesman said Sprint will be the exclusive carrier until at least the end of the year.

Palm's Rubinstein declined to comment.

Article credit New Zealand Herald