Syncplicity Syncs Word Files with Google Docs

With the unfortunate demise of Docsyncer, there's no longer an easy way to synchronize your local documents with your Google Docs documents. Sure, you can use Google Gears to access your documents offline, but that's not quite the same thing as syncing. Enter Syncplicity, a Web-based backup and synchronization service that includes support for Google Docs.

As outlined over at Digital Inspiration, you can tap a free (for now) Syncplicity account to designate a local folder as shared: Your Google Docs files will get downloaded to that folder (thus giving you an offline backup), where you can edit them using Word or your word processor of choice. Meanwhile, any newly created documents stored in that folder get synced to your Google Docs account (thus giving you an online backup). All this happens automatically and transparently. Not too shabby, though for now you're limited to text documents -- spreadsheets and presentations aren't supported.

Frankly, I can't understand why Google doesn't build this kind of functionality into Docs. Google Gears hasn't seen a significant update in quite some time, so for now you're stuck using a third-party service like Syncplicity. Free accounts net you 2GB of storage, but it sounds like that's a temporary offering.