BumpTop Gets Acquired By Google; Touch-Based UI Coming To Chrome/Chrome OS?
Google has done it once more, and by "it," we mean "turn something in
the tech world on its head." BumpTop, a desktop environment that debut
last year on Windows 7 and this year on OS X, has just been swallowed
whole by the search giant, and while finely laid plans have yet to be
made public, assumptions are already running wild.
In the year or so that BumpTop was available, not many consumers seemed to grab it by the horns and try it out. Basically, it's a user interface overlay that makes traditional desktop operating systems a lot more user-friendly on touch-based machines. Aside from the iPhone OS, we haven't really seen an OS tailor made for touch input, but it's obvious that touch is the wave of the future.
To that end, Google decided to move in and swoop these guys up now before waiting around and watching the bidding go higher. But why? The reasons seem pretty clear--Google is home to both Android and Chrome OS (not to mention Chrome the Web browser), all of which will benefit greatly from nice and neat touch interfaces. Android is already seeing millions of fingers each day, and when Chrome OS hits the market, you can be sure that it will ship on one or two touch-based machines.
Having BumpTop may allow Google to completely integrate a beautiful touch UI into Chrome or Chrome OS, helping it to catch up or even leapfrog Apple in the rapidly growing touch industry. Only time will tell what this acquisition will lead to, but the possibilities are right in front of our faces. We're guessing those "other guys" are pretty terrified by those very possibilities, too. The full BumpTop announcement is below.
In the year or so that BumpTop was available, not many consumers seemed to grab it by the horns and try it out. Basically, it's a user interface overlay that makes traditional desktop operating systems a lot more user-friendly on touch-based machines. Aside from the iPhone OS, we haven't really seen an OS tailor made for touch input, but it's obvious that touch is the wave of the future.
To that end, Google decided to move in and swoop these guys up now before waiting around and watching the bidding go higher. But why? The reasons seem pretty clear--Google is home to both Android and Chrome OS (not to mention Chrome the Web browser), all of which will benefit greatly from nice and neat touch interfaces. Android is already seeing millions of fingers each day, and when Chrome OS hits the market, you can be sure that it will ship on one or two touch-based machines.
Having BumpTop may allow Google to completely integrate a beautiful touch UI into Chrome or Chrome OS, helping it to catch up or even leapfrog Apple in the rapidly growing touch industry. Only time will tell what this acquisition will lead to, but the possibilities are right in front of our faces. We're guessing those "other guys" are pretty terrified by those very possibilities, too. The full BumpTop announcement is below.
Dear BumpTop fans,
More than three years ago, we set out to completely change the way people use their desktops. We're very grateful for all your support over that time — not just financially but also through all the encouraging messages from people who found BumpTop inspiring, useful, and just downright fun.
Today, we have a big announcement to make: we're excited to announce that we've been acquired by Google! This means that BumpTop (for both Windows and Mac) will no longer be available for sale. Additionally, no updates to the products are planned.
For the next week, we're keeping BumpTop Free available for download at bumptop.com/download to give BumpTop fans one last chance to grab a copy.
Existing BumpTop Pro users should visit bumptop.com/pro for more information.
Thanks again for all your support over the years. Despite our change in strategy, we remain as passionate as ever about helping shape the future of computing!
Sincerely,
Signature of The Bumps
April 30th 2010
