Apple's iTunes won't work with rival devices

San Francisco: Apple Inc said that devices made by competitors may not work with updates to its iTunes music software, dealing a potential setback to Palm Inc's new Pre phone.

Palm has touted the Pre's ability to transfer music and videos from iTunes as a selling point for its device.

The touch-screen phone, which went on sale this month, is a challenger to Apple's iPhone.

Apple made the announcement recently in a posting on its website, saying rival products may not connect properly with the iTunes software and online store.

ITunes is the biggest US seller of music downloads, fuelled by the popularity of the iPhone and iPod media player.

Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein led development of the iPod before leaving Apple three years ago.

"Apple is aware that some third parties claim that their digital media players are able to sync with Apple software," the company said.

"Because software changes over time, newer versions of Apple's iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with non-Apple digital media players."

Any software update that disables the link between the Pre and iTunes will be "a direct blow" to Apple users and deprive them of an easy way to transfer music, Lynn Fox, a spokeswoman for Sunnyvale, California-based Palm, said last week.

Apple had no comment beyond its online statement, said Steve Dowling, a spokesman for the Cup-ertino, California-based company.

Palm's WebOS software, the Pre's operating system, includes a media-sync feature that lets computers with iTunes transfer music, photos and video to the phone.

The Pre went on sale on June 6 in the US and Apple introduced a new phone of its own, the iPhone 3G S, last week.

Pre users will have other ways to transfer their music if Apple chooses to disable the syncing feature in a future version of iTunes, Fox said.

Pre users can keep using the current version of iTunes or move their music via a portable hard drive.

Palm may also consider using other software to link to iTunes, she said.