You should be refilling that popcorn bucket right about now. While we thought the next round of the Pre / iTunes syncing fiasco would probably be something simple like Apple releasing another quick patch, Palm has stepped it up a notch by complaining to the USB Implementers Forum over what it sees is "improper use of the Vendor ID number" by the gang at Cupertino. What the company means is that when an ID is applied for, a form is signed that states:

"Unauthorized use of assigned or unassigned USB Vendor ID Numbers and associated Product ID Numbers are strictly prohibited."

The implication here is that Palm believes Apple is violating this stature by disallowing certain Vendor IDs -- namely, Palm's -- from using iTunes. So how'd Palm manage to "fix" that syncing hole Apple managed to fill? From the looks of it, by misrepresenting its own Vendor ID, so that the Pre now shows up as a iPod / mass storage device made by Apple (ID 0x05ac) as opposed to one by Palm (ID 0x083) -- hence the complaint. Of course, lying about your own ID would seem to break with the aforementioned rule, too, so what we're left here is some muddled grey area and Palm apparently being okay with fudging some data to correct what it sees is an injustice. If anyone's curious, DVD Jon points out that the root USB Node is still identified as "Pre," so we very likely could see another round of these shenanigans in the not-too-distant future.

Finally, now's as good of a time as any to take a look at some of the peripheral casualties from this war of attrition. In an essay on his personal site that's been circulating the interwebs, Marc Deslauriers outlines the pangs he and the Linux community have felt over the years trying to use iPods on the open source platform, surmising that Apple is intentionally and repeatedly seeking ways to block non-iTunes programs from syncing in any way with its devices. This story is far from over, and as ugly as it looks now, it's probably only gonna get worse.

[Via Digg and Pre Central]

Read - Marc Deslauriers, "Goodbye Apple"
Read - Palm's lodges complaint with USB IF
Read - USB Vendor ID application
Read - Palm Pre USB hack confirmed

Sheesh, what's up with top tier handsets cracking this year? First the iPhone 3G, now SE's XPERIA X1? A curiously high amount of cracking complaints are starting to build around the web, possibly indicating that a quality issue could be somewhat widespread. We're hesitant to believe that this here quirk is even close to happening everywhere, but it is somewhat suspicious that HTC and SE have recently been rumored to be going their separate ways after this phone has faded from the limelight. At any rate, we've no choice but to poll our own audience here, so have you seen unwanted cracks appear in your X1? If so, hit the read link -- you definitely aren't alone in all of this.

[Via WMPowerUser]

Look, Dan Hesse is an intelligent individual, which means he knew good and well that he'd start a flame war when making one particular comment to the National Press Club in Washington. The CEO of Sprint casually proclaimed that he didn't feel Android (in its current form) was "good enough to put the Sprint brand on." In all fairness, Sprint has shown a friendly side to Google in the past, and he did promise to sell an Android-powered phone "at some time in the future," but asserting that Sprint is in the position to shy away from what's arguably the most exciting thing to happen to the mobile realm since the advent of the iPhone is, um, questionable at best.

[Via Android Authority]

No, this isn't some horrific dream stuck on repeat. The legal quarrels between Nokia and Qualcomm are actually still ongoing, and while a US International Trade Commission judge has indeed issued an initial determination that favors Nokia, you can bet your bottom dollar that Qualcomm will be "petitioning the commission for a review." Nevertheless, judge Paul Luckern reportedly "found no infringement or violation by Nokia of the three asserted Qualcomm patents," which consequently led Nokia's CFO to proclaim that this was simply "another failed attempt by Qualcomm to mislead both Nokia and the telecommunications industry." Of course, we wouldn't recommend striking this battle off as complete -- after all, the determination now has to be forwarded on to the full commission for review, and it's not slated to dole out a final call until April.

[Via Yahoo / Reuters]

We know, we know, it may be difficult to understand how companies that lock you in the moment you decide on a phone / plan -- only to be about as helpful as a bottomless bucket the moment turmoil arises -- could be hated. Nevertheless, we can't say we're shocked at all to hear that cellphone providers are among the least liked in all of the service industries. In a recent report released by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, it was found that "fewer than half of respondents were completely or very satisfied with their cellphone service," and sadly, that's hardly different than in years past. Among the biggest gripes were high prices and mandatory contract extensions, and while pro-rated ETFs are fine and dandy, there's still a few less notable carriers that haven't swallowed that pill just yet. As for internal rankings, Verizon and Alltel each scored higher than the rest, and Sprint was found bringing up the rear.

[Via Wired]
Read - InformationWeek
Read - NYDailyNews

Thankfully for us all, the iPhone launch is but hours away, and what better way to make those last second decisions on braving the crowds (or not) than to read over what's likely to be the last pre-iPhone-launch interview with both Apple and AT&T's head honchos? Sitting down with USAToday, Steve Jobs and Randall Stephenson faced a number of dutiful questions, and a few of the answers were intriguing to say the least. Besides bragging about revolutionizing the mobile phone industry and finally producing "a phone people like," the duo noted that the 6:00PM launch time was chosen to give "everyone the same shot" at nabbing one, and they both made it seem like shortages wouldn't be too much of an issue. Most noticeable was the dodging of the inevitable EDGE inquiries, as both execs spent more time boasting of the iPhone's ability to "fluidly switch from EDGE to WiFi" than actually responding to the "sluggish" criticism received thus far. Furthermore, Jobs noted that Apple was already working with a number of companies in regard to corporate email, and while he wouldn't budge when questioned about an overseas release, he did state that "selling 10 million" during its first year was a "realistic goal."

According to the Korean Consumer Agency, 433 complaints regarding cellphone malfunction were lodged in 2006 -- a staggering 33 percent bump over 2005. Ultimately, some 73 percent of those were attributed to actual defects in the phones; of those, the largest culprit seemed to be call quality, accounting for 38.1 percent of the calls. Interestingly, Pantech and Curitel phones seemed to be the most finicky, with 167 complaints levied against their models. Motorola was on the opposite end of the spectrum with a mere 30 complaints, though we're guessing that's largely because Moto simply sells far fewer phones in Korea than the country's home brands do. The reason for the sudden upswing in angry calls? Telecoms Korea hypothesizes that miniaturization is to blame -- as phones get slimmer, defect rates go up. As long as these carriers and manufacturers are taking care of the issues, they've got nothing to worry about.