Bend the Rules: Sync Android With iTunes, Text on PC, Keep E-Books Longer

It's not uncommon to have iOS and Android users living under the same roof. Indeed, perhaps you've been an iPod owner for many users, but recently decided to pick up an Android-powered smartphone or tablet. Now the question becomes, how do you sync your iTunes music and playlists with your Android device?

You can, of course, side-load music from your desktop to your device, meaning copying it over manually. But that's not nearly as easy or convenient as true synchronization. It is, in a word, a hassle.

Enter iSyncr, which combines a Windows utility and an Android app to keep your phone/tablet in sync with iTunes. It's dirt cheap, and it works like a charm. There's even an optional Wi-Fi add-on for syncing your music wirelessly.

To get started, you simply buy the app from Android Market for a whopping $3. When you first run it, it will install a small Windows utility on your device and/or storage card. (If you're going to be bringing over a lot of music, a storage card is definitely your best bet.) Then you just connect your device to your PC, enable USB storage, and run the iSyncr utility.

From there it's a simple matter of choosing the playlists you want to sync. When the copy process is done, "safely remove" your phone/tablet, then fire up the music app. Presto! Your iTunes favorites have magically appeared. The app also supports syncing in the other direction, meaning songs purchased and playlists created on your device can be synced back to your PC.

This gets even better if you use the free iSyncr Wi-Fi Add-On, a desktop server program for Windows that enables synchronization without the USB cable.

Send and Receive Text Messages on Your PC

Text messaging is great--except when it isn't. For one thing, it's expensive (unless you have an unlimited messaging plan, which itself can be expensive). Plus, it forces you to type on your phone's tiny keyboard--not always the fastest or most convenient method.

Indeed, when you're sitting at your desk and want to text, say, your spouse, do you really have to pull out your phone, navigate to the messaging app, then mangle those cramped keys?

Actually, you don't. Pinger Textfree Web brings free and easy text messaging to your browser. Using a large, attractive interface, you can compose a message to any mobile number and view the replies. It's not unlike using an instant-messaging service like Meebo.

Registering for a Textfree Web account is free, and it includes a textfree.us e-mail address. (If you're an Android or iOS user, you might be familiar with the eponymous apps, which are great for messaging without paying your carrier for the privilege.)

In my tests, messages sent from Textfree Web arrived almost instantly, the replies came just as quickly. And trust me: it's so much nicer composing texts with a full-size keyboard. Cheaper, too. The service even lets you attach images to your messages, effectively recreating MMS. (If someone wants to send you back an image, it needs to go to your Textfree e-mail address.)