The back-and-forth battle between Palm and Apple continues, as the Pre's webOS has been updated to once again sync with iTunes, in spite of a USB-IF statement against the practice.

Palm announced Saturday that webOS 1.2.1 was released, and Sprint customers will receive the update automatically, over the air. It re-enables Palm media sync to work with iTunes 9, and also addresses problems syncing EAS e-mail.

Earlier this week, Palm released webOS 1.2 which featured a number of fixes, but did not re-enable sync with iTunes 9. Earlier in September, when Apple released iTunes 9, it disabled the ability of the Palm Pre to synchronize media with the software.

When sync worked in previous iterations, the Pre identified itself as an Apple iPod via USB. That tactic was frowned upon by the USB Implementers Forum.

Weeks ago, the USB-IF issued a letter in response to a petition from Palm over its dispute with Apple. The non-profit organization that sets standards for the Universal Serial Bus sided with Apple, noting that Palm's tactic of improperly identifying the Pre as an iPod was in violation of the forum's policies. The forum also said that Apple's practice of limiting first-party devices to sync with iTunes was within the rules.

The full list of fixes in webOS 1.2.1, according to Palm, is as follows: