Bump is a service that’s been around for a few years, letting users transfer data between phones or other mobile devices by literally bumping them together. Now it looks like Google is transferring some of Bump’s resources… by buying the company.
Bump allows users to share contacts, photos, videos, or other files between devices, and there’s even an option to transfer data between a mobile device and a PC — by “bumping” your phone into the space bar on your computer.
What makes Bump unusual is that you don’t need to use NFC or even Bluetooth to transfer data between two devices that are near one another. Instead, the app uses the sensors on your device to detect when it’s being bumped and then uploads the data you want to send to the internet and downloads it to the other device your phone is bumping up against.
It’s not clear if Google plans to incorporate Bump-like functionality into future versions of Android… or if Google simply acquired the company in order to acquire some of its staff and resources.
Bump’s announcement of the acquisition seems to leaves the door open for either possibility. On the one hand, Bump will continue to work as usual… “for now.” But Bump CEO David Lieb points out that joining Google will let the team continue to “create experiences that feel like magic,” which suggests that they could be moving on to development of new apps and features.
For now, you can still download Bump for free from the Google Play Store.
via Android Police