Both Verizon and AT&T have recently dropped the price of their unlimited voice plans from $100 to $70 a month. While we (we being the tech media) generally assumed that the price cuts were an attempt to lure more customers. We tend to forget a few days after their conference calls that the #1 and #2 US cellular networks are having no trouble picking up and retaining new customers, even with their rates considerably higher than #3 Sprint and #4 T-Mobile (T-Mobile is at least still gaining subscribers, unlike Sprint). So why the price cuts?

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Windows users can finally get in on the integrated Amazon MP3 that doubleTwist users on Macs have been enjoying for what seems like ages. The latest update to the media sync software brings it to version 2.6 on PC (Mac users get a feature-similar 1.0b14), and in addition to the expected bug fixes and Amazon MP3 integration also adds supports for the unannounced Google Nexus One. Seeing as it’s just an Android phone, adding support for one more Android device couldn’t have been a tall order for doubleTwist. doubleTwist added support for the Palm Pre and Palm Pixi soon after they launched.

With Amazon MP3’s music store integration doubleTwist can serve as a full-fledged iTunes sync and store replacement. Its playback controls are a bit lacking, but we have little doubt that ramping doubleTwist up to complete iTunes/Windows Media Player replacement is very much on doubleTwist’s radar.

[via: Gizmodo]

Thanks to gksspot555 for the tip!

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Hot on the heels of Apple pushing out a new version of iTunes that breaks sync with the Pre, the good folks over at doubleTwist have poked their heads up to say “Hey!” The newly updated version of doubleTwist has added support for the Palm Pixi to their long and growing list of non-Apple-sanctioned devices that they let sync with iTunes. Pixi sync is here now for Mac and next week for Windows.

The latest version of doubleTwist also brings support for the Android-sporting Motorola CLIQ and Droid smartphones. The new version also adds the ability to read and copy off of connected iPods and iPhones. doubleTwist is moving along nicely; it was just a few weeks ago that they unveiled an in-app music store powered by Amazon MP3.

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[ youtube link ]

While doubleTwist has always been great for syncing your Pre with iTunes whether or not Apple was unhappy enough to break Media Sync, it still leveraged your music purchasing through iTunes. While you could still download music from Amazon MP3 from your browser and load it into iTunes through Amazon’s own desktop software, it wasn’t exactly the most elegant solution. doubleTwist has decided to make that easier and has integrated the Amazon MP3 Store into their own sync software.

As with Amazon MP3 on the Pre, doubleTwist now has access to over five million songs in Amazon’s catalog, available for purchase as both complete albums and individual tracks. Thankfully, like doubleTwist’s syncing software, they’ve also made the Amazon MP3 Store dead easy to use. This implementation is actually quite a bit easier than trying to utilize the Amazon MP3 Store via their browser-based interface, which was quite clearly designed for the purchase of physical media that built Amazon into the retail powerhouse it is today.

With Amazon MP3 available on both your Pre and now easily on your computer via doubleTwist we now have one fewer reason to rely on iTunes for our music synchronization needs.

[via: TechCrunch]

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While we’re not entirely stoked about the lack of WiFi in the upcoming Palm Pixi, we can understand Palm’s reasoning behind the move. They need someway to differentiate the Pixi from the Pre, and dropping WiFi, using a smaller screen, and throwing in a slower processor are definitely ways to make it clear which phone is the ‘better’ device. But not having WiFi on the Pixi does open up an interesting door, which PreCentral reader and Twitter user Ah_Itz_That_Guy noted:

"No wifi on Pixi good for pre users? Prevents "wifi-only" app restrictions (a la slingplayer on iPhone, Amazon mp3 on Pre)?"

Indeed, that does seem to be the case. The leaked webOS 1.2 change log on Sprint.com actually does point out that the Amazon MP3 will no longer be limited to exclusively WiFi downloads. While at the time we heralded the change as just more gooder, we can now look at the Pixi and say, “Ah, now it really makes sense.” Since webOS has been designed to work on multiple devices with different hardware, it’s now going to force Palm to not limit applications based on their connectivity loads. Limiting an app to WiFi only would also prevent it from working on the Pixi, and that should be the last thing that Palm wants.

See, there is a silver lining to every cloud. Just not necessarily WiFi access.

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Since Apple has decided to take their iTunes ball and go home, Palm Pre owners who had come to depend on the software as their synchronization solution have found themselves out in the cold. Do not distress, for there are many options available for you to continue delightful synchronization of your music. Several of these options even come with more options than iTunes itself, and if there’s anything we like here, it’s options.

Our list is by no means comprehensive, but it is broad and touches upon the various options available for iTunes synchronization, as well as ways for non-iTunes users to get their music easily onto the Pre. If there’s something else that you use, or a sync solution that you need, sound off in the comments!

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That leaked Palm Pre manual keeps on yielding new info, some of it good, some of it not-so-good. In the category of not-so-good is some news regarding the Pre’s primary music store, Amazon MP3. While Amazon MP3 is a fantastic service and up to this moment it seemed to be have been implemented quite well. But now we know it’s going to come with a limitation that the iTunes Store on the iPhone launched with: no music downloads over 3G.

The application will queue your purchases when on 3G and download them when you get your Pre onto a Wi-Fi network, which for a device that’s supposed to be so mobility-oriented, this is frankly a disappointing development. There is some hope, however. The iPhone’s limitation was imposed by AT&T, though the network eventually relented and iPhone users can suck down as many iTunes purchases over 3G as their battery can handle. Hopefully maybe eventually Sprint and Palm will be convinced that true wireless mobility is the way to go.

Here’s what the manual has to say about this (page 122).

Before you can download items using the Amazon MP3 application on your phone, you must have an Amazon account, and you must read and agree to the MP3 Music service terms and conditions.

You can preview music files and queue them up for download over the Sprint network or a Wi-Fi network. However, you must be connected to a Wi-Fi network to download music files. After you purchase and download items from Amazon MP3, listen to them with your phone’s Music application (see “Listen to Music” on page 118).

Thanks to jayzun and AlwayzRight in our forums for the tip!

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