Bad news, Palm Pre owners: it looks like Apple has broken the Pre's iTunes syncing ability once again. On Wednesday Apple released the latest version of its media software, iTunes 9, which includes social networking features, a new iTunes Store interface, and, apparently, a way to break the Pre's syncing capability.

Complaints about the latest sync break started surfacing on Pre-related forums shortly after Apple made iTunes 9 available for download. Before the iTunes update, Palm's handset was able to grab DRM-free music and podcasts from iTunes using the Pre's built-in Media Sync application.

This is the second time Apple has broken up the Pre-iTunes relationship. Shortly before Palm launched the Pre in early June, the company announced its WebOS-based handset would be able to sync with iTunes. That prompted a statement by Apple saying the Pre's syncing ability wouldn't last long. Two months after the Pre launched, Apple made good on its promise when the Pre lost its iTunes syncing capabilities with the release of iTunes 8.2.1.

More: http://www.macworld.com/article/142728/