Google Acquires Content Sharing App Bump
Bump, the contact and media sharing app for Android and iOS, has been acquired by Google.
Bump co-founder and chief executive David Lieb said the company was “thrilled” to join Google, citing similar passions for sharing information between people and devices.
In September 2011, the company announced it had 50 million downloaders and 10 million active “bumpers.” Just less than a year later, more than 600 million photos were shared by “bumping” phones. Later it released an iPhone-only version photo-sharing app dubbed Flock (not to be confused with the social browser of the same name).
It’s worth adding here that Bump doesn’t use NFC, merely “whatever Internet connection is available on your device”, be that WiFi or cellular. The mobile app uses the phone’s sensors to “feel” the bump, thus actioning the actual transfer.
“The Bump team has demonstrated a strong ability to quickly build and develop products that users love, and we think they’ll be a great fit at Google,” said a Google spokesperson. Google declined to comment on what team Bump will be joining.
The full announcement on the Bump blog is as follows.
[toggle title=”Announcement”]“We’re excited to announce that the Bump team is joining Google!
Our mission at Bump has always been to build the simplest tools for sharing the information you care about with other people and devices. 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.
Bump and Flock will continue to work as they always have for now; stay tuned for future updates.
We’d like to extend a special thank you to all of you who have used our products so far. It continues to be a pleasure to serve you, and your feedback and evangelism inspire us every day.
David Lieb
CEO and cofounder
Bump
We also want to thank our investors, advisors, and supporters — Marc Andreessen and all of a16z; Greg McAdoo, Tim Lee and all of Sequoia; Paul Graham, Jessica Livingston, and everyone at Y Combinator; Ron Conway and SV Angel; Ram Shriram of Sherpalo; Aydin Senkut of Felicis — and our friends and family who have encouraged us to dream big and push the world forward.”[/toggle]
[Via]
