Pre syncs with iTunes out of the box

According to a report at Fortune's Apple 2.0 blog the upcoming Palm Pre syncs seamlessly with Apple’s iTunes.

In fact, the iTunes Store treats the Pre just as it would an iPod or an iPhone with one exception: it can’t handle old copy-protected songs.

In the past third-party software was required to sync non-Apple hardware (like the Palm Treo) to iTunes, but it appears that Palm has baked the feature into the Pre's shipping firmware.

While iTunes syncing is a nice plus for the $199 Sprint-based iPhone competitor, it's not that surprising. Especially when you consider that Palm is being led by Jon Rubenstein, the former Apple engineer that practically invented the iPod under Steve Jobs.

So there you have it. Will COO Tim Cook release the hounds on Rubenstein and company? Or is there nothing Apple can do to stop the impending Pre?