DoubleTwist, a universal media management desktop application for Macs and PCs, not only has a clever marketing team behind it but also seems to be something a lot of people have been waiting for. The free software, which works like a multi-platform version of iTunes with a social networking component, has been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times since it launched in February (exact number aren’t disclosed for the time being).
Users can share music files, photos or videos across (almost) any device via drag and drop and share the files with others. DoubleTwist’s main selling point: It supports hundreds of devices, from cell phones or mobile gaming devices to portable music players. For example, the software can sync all music files you bought on iTunes with your Blackberry, Nokia phone, Kindle or Sony PSP without you having to worry about file format compatibility. Media files can then be uploaded to sites like Flickr, Facebook or YouTube from within doubleTwist.
Watch this video to see how the app works:
It’s safe to say Apple isn’t probably a big fan of the software. But doubleTwist co-founders Monique Frantzos and Jon Lech Johansen (better known as DVD Jon) silently enhanced the app in the last few weeks and told me today they have more plans for the future.
doubleTwist added support for video downloads from YouTube and now works with Android phones and the Palm Pre, too. Drag and drop any YouTube video you want to watch on the go on your Android G1, for example, into the doubleTwist window and copy it onto your device in seconds. iPhone 3.0 compatibility, bundling deals with several cell phone makers and a more sophisticated podcast engine are to be expected in the near future, too.
Entry into gadget-crazy Japanese market
Things are going very well for doubleTwist in the English-speaking world, and starting today, the application is available as a localized version in mobile phone-crazy Japan (Windows-only for the time being/demo video). According to Johansen and Frantzos, the main reasons for choosing Japan as the first Non-English market are:
- a myriad of super-advanced cell phones from different makers (about 100 a year) delivering a mediocre software experience
- world’s highest penetration of iTunes (1 out of 4 broadband users or about 13.6 million Japanese use iTunes to manage their music)
- high online video consumption (21 million Japanese users watch YouTube videos for 187 minutes per month as opposed to Americans who are on YouTube for 134 minutes monthly)
- strong demand for high-quality online video (mobile YouTube delivers low quality but doubleTwist can show YouTube videos in high-res)
doubleTwist’s entry into Japan makes sense, as the country is one of the world’s biggest markets for music and movies (for example, Japanese users downloaded music worth $10.2 billion to cell phones in 2007). Nearly 170 Japan-only cell phones from local carriers NTT Docomo, KDDI au and SoftBank are supported from the start. DoubleTwist has set up a Wiki page for each one of them, an exclusive pilot service for the Japanese market that might be expanded to all doubleTwist-compatible devices in the future.
The company has so far raised $7.5 million in series A and B from several major venture capital companies in the US, Europe and Asia, including Index Ventures (investors in Skype) and Hong Kong-based Horizons Ventures.
Sounds awesome. Can’t wait till I try it. Does it have Zune support?
Look here (also linked to in my posting) for a list of devices supported:
http://www.doub...upporteddevices
It seems that they don’t support Zune currently. But you can ask them in their forum or by email when this will be the case.
thanks… I’ll take a look. That’s a pity though, cause I’d love to not use Zune software to sync my Zune hardware.
Looks interesting. Trying it now.
Great technology. I’m really impressed. Definitely deserves a shot.
“Hundreds of thousands of times ”
AKA, just hit 200k
Very impressive. Worth trying. http://bit.ly/cdvez
Sounds like the lateset in a line of re-mash-ups of everyone else’s ideas.
I think we’ve effectively reached the point that hit Wall Street stocks and mutual funds: there are now officially 10x more mash-ups than things there are to mash.
Just downloaded and installed the app, but it won’t sync with my iPhone “Sync failed”.
Then tried to find a solution on the double twist forum, but every time I want to look at a post, I get a screen message saying “There has been a serious error loading the forum. No further information is available.”
Hmmm…
Palm should buy them they need a media player and a way to transfer stuff to the Pre that’s not hacky
it must be great what can i say got to have this
This is definitely a great software solution to a growing problem. With so many different gadgets and formats out there, this is a great way to integrate them and share cross-platform. I’m sure there is some competition out there, but I think DoubleTwist is in for a bright future. I will seriously consider giving it a try.
I hope that their social network functionality includes websites that are popular in Japan, such as Mixi, Friendster and Bebo, before they try to enter the market.
the realplayer sp beta syncs with alot of mobile phones and gadgets. it also converts videos too. pretty much no big deal. as to what double twist is doing. should i ask how they plan to make money? ads? subcriptions? or just a hype and offload it to a sucker?
Free software that’s not open source. That always puts me off, I can’t help thinking of Kazaa and the likes. Check out this analysis of their EULA:
http://defendin..._the_man_d.html
That site is all wrong. Its invalid and wrong. They are using the EULA for 2.0 and talking about features in 1.0.
The 1.0 release used to be a piece of software to strip DRM off music to put on your device. 2.0 is a totally different and legitimate and legal piece of software that now has social networking and cloud features.
This site uses arguments for the doubleTwist cutting off your cloud privileges in the 2.0 EULA to relate to stopping you from doing things in the 1.0 software. It’s screwed up and confusing.
My concern is specifically regarding 3rd party software (item 2.4), which can mean spyware. It’s not clear what sort of obligation doubleTwist is offering that they will not bundle such.
They say they will present a separate licensing agreement for 3rd party software bundled, but it also refers to 3rd party software that it may incorporate. It’s not clear what the difference is.
How come it’s free?
Because there will be a PRO version. Read the top of the EULA where it talks about the PRO version and why the software currently says “FREE” as the account level when install it.
No info on the Pro version. Who knows what’s in there.
Why should I sign up for service when all I need is to sync my device and computer?
Bottom line, it asks for too much for its intended purpose.
@Sivan
you may be right.
also: tech crunch only allows threading replies 4 levels? WTF?
no program this day install spyware. as it will be found and discredit the program it self.
2.4 need to allow install video code (eg. AviSynth). it count as 3rd party software.
2.5 modifly program is limit to doubleTwist Software it’s need for update. or ban you if you host trouble content.
And by read 2.6 They have plan to have paid services eg. download music, phone application, batter hosting space – as not free account.
note: most recent update supports palm pre (as of june 9th beta, now rolled in)
I downloaded this back in April or so. Nearly killed my Windows install. All kinds of application errors (and not just from DT), crazy CPU hammering and memory suckage.
Immediately uninstalled and *poof* problems disappeared, Windows was back to normal.
Buggy, buggy software. Install at your own risk.
That is a good attempt to join the cloud. With more and more applications coming out for cloud computing, RIAA and similar will have a hard time coping up with piracy as it will be pocketed into centrally located networks..
Ok – now I managed to look at the dT forums to see why it wouldn’t sync with my iPhone and here’s what I found:
Q: The trouble now is that every time I try to sync it says, after about 1 second, “sync failed”.
A: This is the Apple firmware 3.0 upgrade which again broke doubleTwist by killing syncing. We are working on a work around for this at the moment and will release a patch build with the fix the moment it is ready to be released.
This was posted on June 30 and there is still no patch. Fail.
I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks with my Android (HTC Magic) and it has worked flawlessly for podcasts and the like. Not sure why anyone would want to use it with an iPod or iPhone, but for other gadgets it’s perfect.