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if he had the Ithil stone, why could he not "see" the goings on of Lothlorien and Rivendell and command the palantiri to reveal who the keepers of the Three Rings were.~Gorthaur
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Despite Sauron's power, and apparent ability to control the palantir, he was not a rightful owner. He simply relied on his spiritual power to use it, and that is why he loses to Aragorn in their battle through the palantir. Aragorn, being Elendil's heir, was a rightful owner and that gave him an advantage against Sauron when using them...however even Aragorn feared he was not powerful enough and I think he remarks about 'barely' beating Sauron. He was pretty drained after the contest, and I'd imagine Sauron would be too anytime he tried to use an object that he didn't rightfully own.
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Actually, it's odd to me that Saruman wouldn't have known already where the Three were bestowed. After all, he had been the head of the Council, and probably had the most knowledge of Ring-lore of any who remained in ME, save Sauron. Moreover, he was considered one of the greatest allies of the West for most of the Third Age.~Inziladun
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Well Galadriel had wanted Gandalf to head the Council, so there may have been origins of distrust towards Saruman, but we know Saruman didn't like that and took it for himself when Gandalf rejected the job.
Now, Saruman does eventually guess that Gandalf is one of the bearers of the Three, and this makes him even more jealous of Gandalf. This may also be why Saruman decides to try and make his own Ring, one that he can show off to Gandalf.