Skifta: the only streaming app you’ll ever need?

Cloud computing and storage is the next great Internet frontier: everybody from cellphone providers to the website that sells you all your stuff wants to offer you cloud storage so you can stream your stuff from literally anywhere. But, if you don’t particularly feel like buying yet another bunch of storage, there’s finally an app that lets you just use your computer at home, and drag your photos, music, and movies everywhere with you: Skifta.

It works like this. Skifta is an Android app that syncs your phone and your computer; you download the app to your phone and also to the computer you want to pull information from. From there, when you’re somewhere with a DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance)-enabled device (i.e. an Internet radio, a TV with built-in wireless, or somebody else’s computer), you just fire up Skifta and it streams anything you want to play straight to the device. No more passwords, no more sending people Flickr links, no more lengthy emails and, most importantly, no more crappy tunes at parties. It’s even absolutely free to download.

So what’s the catch? It doesn’t work with everything. You’ll have to check to make sure any device you want to stream to has DLNA compliance, which it might not, and it won’t work over a standard Wi-Fi signal. So, for example, if you wanted to play tunes through your buddy’s XBox or your mom’s Wii: tough.

Still, Skifta promises to be extremely useful, especially as we start wiring together our computers and phones. Besides, it’s worth it if for no other reason than you can finally hijack the stereo at parties and put on something more recent than 1985.

Skifta [Android Market]

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