PearlTunes Sync iTunes Playlists with BlackBerry

[BESadmin]

PearlTunes Sync iTunes Playlists with BlackBerry
October 31, 2006

Information Appliance Associates, developer of PocketMac, a tool that links Apple Macintosh computers with BlackBerry devices, is now offering the first application to sync iTunes playlists on a Windows PC with RIM's new Pearl smartphone; available from T-Mobile now and, if rumors are correct, Cingular Wireless in the near future.

The purpose of PearlTunes ($9.95US) is to make it easier for Pearl users to carry around their favorite music, as delineated by the iTunes playlists selected for transfer. PearlTunes is only compatible with non-copy protected music files (MP3 or otherwise), which it copies to the Pearl's microSD card.





While the software enables DRM protected m4a or AAC files to be copied to Pearl, in fact, the smartphone won't play them because it lacks a music player capable of playing them. And it would be illegal for Information Appliance Associates to convert the files to a non-protected format for syncing to a Pearl.

Information Appliance Associates CTO Terence Goggin, PearlTunes is an extension of the new entertainment capabilities incorporated into RIM's newest BlackBerry. "So many users are going to fall in love with the ability to carry the music they listen to on their iTunes with them on the BlackBerry Pearl," Goggin asserted in a statement. "This is a really exciting merging of two worlds."

While PearlTunes is the first software to bring iTunes and BlackBerry together, however limited its functionality because of the lack of DRM support, it is not the first time the two popular technologies have been brought together, at least in theory, this year. Early this summer, talk of a BlackBerry/Apple iPod hybrid breifly sent the Internet rumor mill into overdrive.

An analyst proposed that Apple may develop a handset merging an iPod and BlackBerry or, maybe, RIM could integrate iTunes software into a future BlackBerry. The idea of the proposed 'AppleBerry' is it could help Apple gain entry into the world of wireless devices, where RIM dominates (at least in the enterprise), and RIM would benefit from Apple's huge consumer presence.

Rumors continue in force regarding an Apple iPhone, the most recent saying two will be introduced in January 2007 - one a smartphone and the other an iTunes-enabled feature phone - but talk of an Apple and BlackBerry partnership have thus far, and most likely will, come to nothing.

Motorola's often derided ROKR E1 cell phone was the first mobile device other than an iPod to offer iTunes support. Part of the problem with the ROKR was its 100 song limit.