Google is acquiring PushLife, a company that develops mobile media syncing software. The exact terms of the deal haven't been disclosed, but the acquisition is rumored to have cost Google $25 million. The move is significant because the underlying software that powers PushLife's media platform would make a good addition to Google's lineup of services and integrated software for Android.

At the Google IO event last year, the search giant revealed several capabilities that were planned for eventual inclusion in future versions of Android. One such feature was wireless music synchronization and cloud streaming on an Android mobile device. It seems likely that Google has acquired PushLife with the aim of integrating some of the company's services and technology into the upcoming Android music offering.

PushLife's current products include custom media-management applications for Android and Blackberry devices. The software supports wired synchronization with iTunes and Windows Media Player. It also has extensive social network integration with services like Last.fm and Twitter. The company's real vision for monetization, however, was its integrated music store—a service that it planned to deliver in partnership with mobile network operators in order to take advantage of carrier billing.

In an interview with Red Canary last year, PushLife founder Ray Reddy described his company's content storefront as a "carrier-grade platform" and insisted that it was much more than just an application or a smartphone software play. It's not hard to imagine why Google found PushLife's approach compelling. Much of the speculation regarding Google's acquisition of PushLife is focused on the syncing software, but it's clear that there is a lot more value.

To compete head-on with Apple's iTunes ecosystem, Google will need to offer a similarly frictionless media management solution and integrated content storefront. PushLife neatly fills in several pieces of that puzzle. The company's software, however, tends to be a bit more aligned with the Blackberry platform and isn't quite as mature on Android.

In addition to news of the PushLife acquisition, speculation about the upcoming Android music service has also been heating up this month due to the recent leak of an experimental new version of the Android music player application. The leaked player reportedly shows signs of supporting a cloud music service, though it doesn't seem to be operational yet. We can expect to see more details about the Android music platform emerge at the upcoming Google IO conference next month.

Amazon, which appears to be gearing up for an Android battle with Google, managed to beat the search giant to the market with a cloud music streaming and storage service of its own last month. Prior to launching the streaming service, Amazon already operated its own mobile music store—a service that has had a strong following on Android since the early days of the platform.

Superior media management is often cited as one of the advantages of the iPhone over Android-based devices. If Google can put PushLife's technology to good use and deliver a strong syncing experience, it could help make Android more competitive.