How easy is the software? Says Jon, "the goal is to make something your parents can use." To use the software, a device is plugged into a Windows XP or Vista PC (Mac will be later) and DoubleTwist will recognize it and all the media files on the device. Using the software, the file can then be selected, dragged, and dropped into DoubleTwist to be synched up to a separate device, or shared with your friends on DoubleTwist.

The app will also work with Facebook and soon all OpenSocial platforms, allowing users to share media across social networks. Using the Facebook app TwistMe, Facebook users can drag and drop media into a box on another user’s Facebook profile. The friend will then see the shared files show up in their DoubleTwist client. They also automatically add audio and video files you receive from friends to your iTunes library. Shared photos will also be added if you enable iTunes photo sync.

DoubleTwist currently recognizes the following file types:

• Video: 3gp (used by most cell phones), MPEG4 (.mp4, .m4v), wmv, avi and MPEG2 (.mpg, .mpv, .mpeg)
• Audio: mp3, aac/m4a, wma, wav
• Pictures: jpg, gif, png, bmp

DoubleTwist currently supports the following devices:

• Nokia N Series phones
• Sony Ericsson Walkman & Cybershot phones
• LG Viewty phones
• Windows Mobile 5.0/6.0 phones (e.g. Treo, HTC, Palm)
• Sony PSP
• Amazon Kindle

DoubleTwist will also recognize your iTunes playlists and will detected which ones are DRM’d. To decode them, the software plays the song in the background (without volume) while re-recording the files as MP3s. (This sounds like a good way to convert your iTunes files to MP3s, too, doesn’t it?)

You can download DoubleTwist for free, spyware-free from here.

(found on Cnet)

Kindle Features:

• Uses an e-ink display that provides a sharp, high-res screen
• Wireless connectivity over a EVDO network let’s you shop the Kindle store from anywhere and download a book within a couple of minutes
• Displays formats like basic HTML, Word .docs, and PDFs
• 88,000 books, top U.S. Newspapers, top international papers, 250 tops blogs all available
• Free book samples – try before you buy
• Lighter and thinner than a paperback (10.3 ounces)
• Can hold 200+ titles
• Long battery life – only recharge every other day; charges in 2 hours
• Email your Word documents and pictures (.JPG, .GIF, .BMP, .PNG) to Kindle

Paperback Features:

• Uses a print technology that’s easy on the eyes
• After purchase, paperbacks are available to read immediately just by opening the cover
• You can loan a paperback to a friend without losing 200 of your other paperbacks in the process
• Never needs charging
• Supports color
• Can get wet, dropped, stepped on, thrown, etc. and will continue to work

The thing is, like many readers, I doubt I will ever be in the market for an e-book reader. For me, reading for pleasure is a visceral activity. I love
paperbacks – the feel of the pages, the smell of the paper, the way you
can bend the cover all the way back to hold the book at just the right
angle to block the sun as you relax on the beach. You can drop a
paperback in your beach bag where suntan lotion leaks on it and grains
of sand coat its pages and it’s still perfectly fine. You can dog-ear the pages and write in the margins. I also love
hardbacks; looking at their shiny covers look lined up on my bookshelves, I see the books that I couldn’t wait to
own. These are my favorites, the ones I bought the minute they arrived.
Although the e-book reader is the greener choice (until it’s time to upgrade), the more practical choice for many people is not going to be a $400 device that simply gives you the pleasure of buying books in a different way. This is not a paperback killer. It’s just another toy.

UPDATE! I originally wrote this post for Channel 10 and since they decided to run it, I’m sending my traffic over there. The first five hacks are here. To read the rest, click the link at the bottom of the page to see all 10!

Hack #1: Multi-Extension Support mod - This hack makes the Zune program support more types of video, audio, and image extensions. This mod converts files for use on the Zune. Files are automatically converted to the exact specifications used on the Zune device, so no guesswork is involved. It also adds the songs and movies to your library. The hack current supports the following: Audio: .aac, .aif, .aifc, .aiff, .au, .cda, .mid, .midi, .rmi, .snd, and .wav files are now automatically added to your library and later converted and synced with the Zune device. They will not play in your Zune program, though. Video: .asf, .avi, .dvr-ms, .m1v, .m2v, .mod, .mp2, .mp2v, .mpa, .mpe, .mpeg, .mpg, .mpv2, and .wm videos are now automatically added to your library and later converted and synced with the Zune device. They will not play in your Zune program, though. Images: .png, .bmp, .gif, and many other image file types have been found as being supported by the Zune program, but as of yet they cannot be added to the library or synced to your device.

Hack #2: Not really a hack, more of a break-it-open guide – Rapid Repair, a personal music player parts and repair site, has opened up the new Zune 2 and has the pictures to prove it. With their step-by-step guides, you, too, can bust into your Zune, old or new, and replace a part or two.

Hack #3: Use the Zune 2 as a flash drive - this hack makes your computer recognize your Zune 2 just like it’s any ordinary USB flash drive

Hack #4: Convert DVD, video, audio, iTunes and YouTube video to Zune or Zune 2 – this hack gives you directions to convert DVD and popular video and audio file formats like AVI, MPEG, DivX, XviD, MOV, ASF, RM to Zune, convert iTunes to Zune, iPod to Zune, M4P to Zune, M4v to Zune, and download and convert video from YouTube, FLV, Google, Myspace, iFilm, etc. to Zune. It was written up for the original Zunes, but sources say it works on Zune 2.

Hack #5: Another conversion hack – this hack shows you how to convert DVD video to play in your Zune 2.

To see all 10 Zune 2 hacks, click here!!

This post

The software supports almost any non-iPod device from your PSP to your Walkman phone to your Creative Zen. In fact, the only criteria to determine whether or not a device is supported is whether or not you can map it to a drive letter under “My Computer” in Windows. Since Microsoft Zunes don’t show up as a drive letter, you would first have to follow the steps in this hack to get your Zune to show up as a drive letter before you could sync your Zune to iTunes with this software (in theory…anyone who tries this please let me know! Especially with Zune 2 software!).

To use the iTunes Agent software, you’ll need to install the .Net framework version 2.0 (if you don’t already have it), then download the iTunes Agent software. Although the website doesn’t specifically say, it appears that the software supports both mp3 files as well as acc (m4p). Of course, if you run into trouble with your device, you could always rip the DRM from your iTunes music by using QTFairUse software.

Even better, stop buying DRM’d music!!