Google Acquires Canada's BumpTop: A 3D Desktop Software Company
Toronto-based Bump Technologies makers of BumpTop, "desktop environment" software (Mac(recently launched)/Windows) to better organize your desktop has been acquired acquired by Google, according to a note on BumpTop.com.
How They Describe Themselves:
BumpTop has the look and feel of a real desktop, so it's natural and intuitive. But unlike a real desk where stacks can become unruly, BumpTop lets you pile files intelligently -- by project, by file type or any way you choose. And with BumpTop's search-as-you-type capabilities you can find exactly what you're looking for.
Most of BumpTop site has been taken offline but for now you can see it (and get a good idea of what they provide) via a cached copy from Bing. Cached versions of the BumpTop "features page" and "FAQ" page also offer useful info about the software.
For the next week, the company is allowing people to download BumpTop Free. This page has links to download versions for Windows and Mac.
See Also (Review): A Desktop That Begs to Be Organized (by via Katherine Boehret; AllThingsD; 4/7/2009)
This program is a real looker. When I showed it to friends, they immediately wanted to play with it, dragging pictures to pin on virtual walls and drawing circles around several icons at once to stack them into piles like magic. And when you toss files to certain programs, they perform functions.
[Snip]
But as much as I liked BumpTop, I kept coming back to the same conclusion: It was fun while I was using it, but I wasn’t naturally inclined to leave the program I was using — like my email program, my browser or TweetDeck — just to do something on the desktop in a more visually pleasing way. And since the computer’s desktop has never been as functional as popular programs, it’s hard to expect people to spend a lot of time there.
[Snip]
BumpTop is a pleasure to use and for no cost, the free version is certainly worth a try. If you like what you see and you’re willing to change the way you use your desktop, the Pro version might be worthwhile. Just be sure your computer has the correct specifications and be ready for blurry close-ups of the picture frames.
For BumpTop to take off with developers, it needs broad distribution. It belongs in the operating system. Apple has filed a patent on concepts very similar to BumpTop.
The basic product will be available as a free download, fortunately. There's also a pro version for $29 that has some extra features, such as the pile flipping function and support for unlimited sticky notes.
[Snip]
Meantime, BumpTop is worth a try. It's a lot of fun.
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