Google Acquires Data Sharing Youngster Bump

Google has made yet another acquisition, but the latest is a quirky one as it is set to take over Bump. It develops an app that lets users share information by bumping their devices together.

There are very few details on the terms of the acquisition, but Bump said its main app and its Flock application, which creates geotag-based photo albums amongst Facebook friends, will continue to work as normal “for now”.

Bump was launched four years ago. A recent update meant users could share data with PCs, just by bumping the space bar with a smartphone.

Google showing a Bump

“Our mission at Bump has always been to build the simplest tools for sharing the information you care about with other people and devices,” read a message from CEO David Lieb, on the Bump website.

“We strive to create experiences that feel like magic, enabled behind the scene with innovations in math, data processing, and algorithms.

“So we couldn’t be more thrilled to join Google, a company that shares our belief that the application of computing to difficult problems can fundamentally change the way that we interact with one another and the world.”

Google could fit the IP it has bought into a number of areas. The Bump technology itself should prove useful for the tech titan’s own file sharing offerings, and its near-field communications kit.

Flock should give a boost to Google+, which still isn’t gaining much attention in many countries, especially the UK.

Google’s most significant purchase this year was that of Waze, a navigation software vendor, but that deal is facing probes from competition authorities in the UK and the US.

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