doubleTwist – syncing for Android et al

I’m having a lot of fun with doubleTwist (http://www.doubletwist.com) these days – partially because I want to but also because I really have no other choice.  What is doubleTwist?  It’s essentially an iTunes-like program that syncs with virtually any device (that I’ve thrown at it) – most specifically, my Droid.

One of the most amazing features of Android is that it’s not “married” to one (or 5) particular PCs.  You can essentially plug your Android phone into any computer and start browsing files on the device.  DRM-free MP3s from Amazon means that you can transfer music from one machine to another effortlessly.  Others find iTunes intuitive – I find it the opposite and doubleTwist a natural calling.

DoubleTwist, which operates on Windows and Mac, not only syncs music but videos and photos as well – and even allows you to buy music from AmazonMP3 and share to Facebook from within the app.  My wife happens to have a Droid Eris (no accident there).  This means mixing and matching our phones with our laptops and desktop PCs loaded with DoubleTwist is a breeze.

At the risk of sounding like a doubleTwist fanboy, let me express my concerns about the product.  Considering it’s general device agnosticism, this means that no real device manufacturer promotes the software.  It’s only discovered through forums and blog posts like this – which may be alright as long they see commissions through the purchase of music through it’s AmazonMP3 store but also means that people evaluating phones based on capabilities miss out on this software gem as a feature to consider (and tip them to go Android over iPhone).

Ideally, doubleTwist would be bundled with Android phones.  Palm tried backhanded tactics by attempting to have their devices sync with iTunes when they really should just be telling users to use doubleTwist.  I’m not sure who would acquire them (and hope that’s not in the cards for them in the short term at least) – if Motorola or HTC were to, it would essentially abandon the other devices that doubleTwist is made to work with.  We’ll have to see.