Palm PRE’s media sync software currently works with iTunes version 8.2, by pretending to be an iPod when users try download stuff form the iTunes store. With the release of 8.2.1 Wednesday, which does little other than to block the PRE’s ability to fool iTunes that it’s an iPod, that fun is over.

An Apple worm was recently quoted saying, “iTunes 8.2.1 is a free software update that provides a number of important bug fixes. It also disables devices falsely pretending to be iPods, including the Palm Pre.” We wouldn’t to have anyone pretend anything that’s for sure.

So all you Palm PRE users who were trying to be descent people by BUYING music at the iTunes store, unlike so many of your peers, learn your lesson well. Either don’t buy your music at all anymore, or just not from Apple’s iTunes store. Apple would of course love for you to run out and take back your PRE and buy an iPhone/iPod, but I think you should extend your middle finger and offer Apple a well deserved expletive instead.

With Apple, it’s always their way or the highway. Why can’t they just be happy that someone is spending money at their store?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/15/apple_disables_palm_pre_access_to_itunes

Steve Jobs will not be shamed by his use of psychedelics in the past (Well, allegedly in the past. Common all these freaky looking gizmos and no one credits drug use). He has famously called his LSD experiences “some of the two or three most important things I have done in my life.” Examine that statement for a second. The CEO of a hugely successful corporation – the things he must have seen and done – and yet his LSD use is one of the most important experiences in his life.

LSD inventor Albert Hofmann, just before his death, decided to write to the iPhone creator to see if he’d be interested in helping a fellow researcher out with some research money.

Albert Hofmann died @ age 102, which in and of itself, is remarkable considering I am sure he has done a his fair share of the drug he helped create, and drugs are bad. He had penned this never-before-seen letter in 2007 to Jobs at the behest of fellow researcher and friend Dr. Rick Doblin.

Rick Doblin runs an organization dedicated to studying the medical and psychiatric benefits of psychedelic drugs. Below are the letters he wrote to Steve Jobs, and to his friend telling him about the letter. Find a link to the full story at the bottom.

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Dear Mr. Steve Jobs,

Hello from Albert Hofmann. I understand from media accounts that you feel LSD helped you creatively in your development of Apple computers and your personal spiritual quest. I’m interested in learning more about how LSD was useful to you.

I’m writing now, shortly after my 101st birthday, to request that you support Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Peter Gasser’s proposed study of LSD-assisted psychotherapy in subjects with anxiety associated with life-threatening illness. This will become the first LSD-assisted psychotherapy study in over 35 years.

I hope you will help in the transformation of my problem child into a wonder child.

Sincerely,

A. Hofmann

**********************************************

Dear Rick,

Thank you for all you do for my problem child. I am pleased to add whatever I can do from my part.

I learned much from your great letter, to do things after waiting for the right moment, how clever and careful you organize and do your work.

I do hope that my letter to Steve Jobs corresponds to your expectation, especially what regards the choice of the writing paper. [Doblin had asked Hofmann to use his personal letterhead. It's not what you're thinking.] I believe that I followed your prescription.

Hopefully Dr. Gasser will be successful with his request.

Cordially -

Albert

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ryan-grim/read-the-never-before-pub_b_227887.html#hoffmanjobsletter

The devices uses LCD screens and has the ability to adjust focus to give the crispest possible image to people who wear corrective lenses. The unit will also have it’s own rechargeable battery, so it will not drain the life of your iDevices.

The only thing is that it’s not gleaming white like those cute little iPod headphones. Oh wait, those make you a target for robbery, so maybe that’s a good thing.

I hope that Rogers / Fido will soon follow AT&T and give Canadians the opprotunity to pay an exorbitant amount of money for a phone that will be obsolete in 6 months. It’s only fair that we be given a choice without being bound to a 3 year contract!

Audio Quality

This refers to overall audio performance, both call quality and MP3 playback quality. As incredible as it may seem, the Blackberry BOLD has far superior audio quality than the iPhone 3G. In my opinion, this should certainly be the other way around, but it isn’t. The BOLD has the best audio quality I have every heard on a mobile device. It has superior low end, and sounds almost stereo. There is no noticable speaker, and the sound appears to emanate from the entire device. It’s actually pretty sweet.

Screen Resolution, Clarity, Function

I wil give RIM some serious props in this catergory. The screen on the BOLD is super high-res and looks beautiful. However, side by side, the iPhone 3G still dominates this category. How can you compete with a full screen that is completely interactive? You can’t. Although the BOLD screen does look very vivid, we have to keep in mind that is smaller than the iPhone, hence more pixels cramed into a smaller space = sharper image. iPhone 3G definitely wins this category though.

Web Browsing

No contest. The iPhone 3G dominates any PDA device to date. BOLD… good try, but not even close.

Email & Messaging

No MMS on the iPhone 3G. So What. With the myriad of social networks and other great online features, if you’re still using MMS you probably think fax machines are a necessity as well.

Email is an area that I use intensely throughout the day. IMO, both devices do a pretty solid job of handling emails and SMS. However, if you’re coming from a Blackberry it will take some getting used to. Here is a brief list of things that I’ve noticed about  both devices in this area.

1. Can’t search through emails or calendars on the iPhone. This should be a mandatory feature on any device this advanced. Then again, so should copy/paste. Wake up Apple!  Solution: when you need to search, have to use webmail.
2. No LED indicator on the outside of the iPhone. If you don’t feel the vibration or hear the ring, only way to see if you’ve received a message is to turn on the device and check.
3. Messages look 100 times better on an iPhone. No contest, blackberry is basically text, iPhone looks like an email client on your desktop.
4. SMS messaging. Both devices have their advantages. Even split here.
5. IMAP support, far superior on the iPhone 3G. The blackberry doesn’t sync properly with Gmail or Google Apps, your sent items, and drafts don’t get saved on the server. iPhone does a great job of keeping the folders in your mailbox in sync.
6. Push vs Fetch. No big deal. I find Fetch on the iPhone 3G just as effective as my Blackberry.

Overall Experience

I was probably one of the most adamant Blackberry advocates for quite a few years. I made the switch the the iPhone 3G for one reason really, RIM kept delaying the release of the BOLD and I wanted a 3G device. Do I regret my decision? To be honest, the first 2 weeks I was very disappointed with the iPhone 3G, so mych so that I went out and paid full pop for a BOLD the day they came out. I quickly rushed home, placed both devices side by side and started to realize that the BOLD, although a great imporvement for RIM can’t be compared the iPhone 3G and it’s potential. With the SDK released and people diving into mobile development the iPhone 3G is literally, a computer in your pocket. The BOLD, well, it’s a PDA. Another thing that really upset me is the fact that the BOLD seems to be very similar to the 8800 with regards to RIM’s urgency to start pushing out other devices immediatley after.

Similar to the 8800, it’s successors, the Curve and BOLD are much better devices. This is the same boat that the BOLD is in. Within several months, the Jevlain, Thunder and a few other Blackberry devices are going to pop up. Each with improved functionality and better form factors.

Conclusion

My advice. If you’ve been curious about the iPhone 3G, go out and get one. The BOLD is only the first generation of a new line of improved devices from RIM. Why drive the demo when you can wait for the production model to be released? The iPhone is new, exiting, innovative. Biggest draw back right now is the battery life. I have a charger at home, in the car, at the office and in my laptop bag. Does it bother me? Not, anymore, I just plug it in whenever I can and so far haven’t had the device die on me.

Those of you wondering about typing on the iPhone 3G touch screen. I type about 90 words per minute on my computer, and probably got pretty close on my blackberry. After 4 weeks of iPhone use, I think I’m pretty close. The technique is very different, but like all new things, you get used to it!

* Remember. If you really want to unlock the iPhone’s full potential, you can always Jailbreak it! Let me see you do that on a Blackberry.