iTunes 8.2.1 released, destroys Palm Pre media syncing

Oh, c’mon now, you knew that Apple wasn’t going to allow the Palm Pre to sync with iTunes forever, right? I think we all knew that Pre iTunes media syncing was on borrowed time, and that time has come. Apple has just released iTunes 8.2.1, and with it, comes this ominous feature:

“iTunes 8.2.1 provides a number of important bug fixes and addresses and issue with verification of Apple devices.”

Huh. If you are a Palm Pre user who updated before reading between the lines on that one, you are now stuck without the ability to sync the Pre with iTunes. Of course, there are third-party utilities that let you kludge your way through it, but really, that Pre party is over. Palm has released an official statement on the matter:

Palm’s media sync works with iTunes 8.2. If Apple chooses to disable media sync in iTunes, it will be a direct blow to their users who will be deprived of a seamless synchronization experience. However, people will have options. They can stay with the iTunes version that works to sync their music on their Pre, they can transfer the music via USB, and there are other third-party applications we can consider.