Bump Technologies LLC

Bump for Android tablets is a super easy way to share information with other devices. From its basic menu, select what kind of file you'd like to share with a friend: photos, contacts, apps or personal information. Then, select the files that apply and then just "bump" your devices together to make the exchange. When it works, it's amazing—a headache free way to share phone numbers and favorite photos. Unfortunately, there was the occasional hiccup, and I sometimes had to redo the bump multiple times before it would work. It’d be nice to share music files too, but that’s not possible with Bump. Still, Bump offers a unique way for tablet owners to stay connected. Read More

Over the years since the iPhone first appeared on the scene, there have been several attempts to create business card apps that let you exchange contact details with friends or strangers by bumping their iPhones together (Bump, free) or tapping a button (myCard, US$0.99 or Fliq, free). One issue with these apps is that they usually require both people to have the same app installed. Now a new biz card app, Cardflick (free), has arrived on the scene. Like those other apps, Cardflick works best if both you and the recipient of the card you're sending have the app. But you can also send a card to someone who doesn't have Cardflick installed on their iPhone. Using the Cardflick app, you gain access to a "card file in the cloud" that stores your card design and information. When you send the business card to someone without the app, they see exactly what your card looks like and receive a vCard attachment that can be used to add your contact info to Address Book. Since there are other apps of this type that are already available, what makes Cardflick so compelling? The card themes -- they are very attractive and easy to change, and I have a feeling that more are on the way. Adding your info to a card takes just a few minutes, since the app just takes the basic info such as phone number, email, and website. When you're in a room with other people who have the app, you'll see a count of how many people you're sending the card to (the app uses location services to determine who is in the area). With a flick of the card, it appears on the other iPhones. Cardflick is a snap to set up, good looking, and easy to use. Oh, and did I mention it's free? Be sure to check out the gallery for some screenshots of Cardflick in action. Read More

Get an accurate heart-rate reading by putting the tip of your index finger on the smartphone's camera. If you don't have a phone with a flash, you need to be somewhere well lit for it to work. "I have to admit that I'm the non-runner in the family, but I'm hearing lots of good things about this app. The perfect plan to get someone who is exercise-averse off their butt, out of the house and onto the mean streets. The settings, social-networking links and the integration with your music collection are all designed to swing even the most recalcitrant jogger into action." SH "This app is the perfect blend of analogue meets digital. You can take a photo from your smartphone, then send a physical postcard of that photo straight to your grandma in England." AF An iPhone app that lets you make free phone calls to other iPhone users who have Viber installed. "A good alternative to Skype that seems to integrate better with the way people use their phones. It utilises your contacts list to tell you who else is using it and also receives calls when the app isn't active." AF A surprisingly accurate talk-to-type tool that records your spoken words as text, then sends them via email or text, or copies them to your clipboard. Leaves you with no excuse for texting while driving. "Bump two phones together and you can pass on contact details, photos, music and apps. Great if you've run out of business cards." - KC Whether in the nearest Macca's, cafe or bookstore, this searches and finds public free and paid Wi-Fi hot spots near you, anywhere in the world. Can filter by venue types and providers. Turns your iPhone into a wireless, external hard drive that you can connect to your email, website or home computer. If you're greedy for even more space, you can pay $8.99 for the Pro version. Lets you use your iPhone as a wireless touch pad, mouse or keyboard with your computer, so you don't have to get up from the couch to write that pesky email. It does require you to download and install the app on your PC as well, but that's relatively simple. Uses live streaming to bring you more than 40,000 radio stations from all around the world, which can be recorded, paused and rewound. Search station by genre, language or location.   Read More

Often, you’ll want to transfer some piece of data — a link, contact information or a photo, for example — from one of your iOS devices to another. iCloud will make some of that easier, but unfortunately, the iPhone doesn’t support Bluetooth file transfer like most phones. Luckily, there are other workarounds. The easiest way of transferring a small amount of data, like a link or a single photo, is via email. Since there’s no need to download any extra apps, it’s possible to do this as soon as you set up a device. All you need is an active email account, and you can send messages to yourself. The email will be received on the other device, and then you can copy and paste the information as you please. The downside of sending yourself emails is firstly, it can take a while to send an email containing lots of photos or a long video, even over Wi-Fi. Also, if you’re not at home or on Wi-Fi, using email will use up mobile data, since you’re connecting to the Internet. If you don’t a Wi-Fi connection, I’d suggest using the next method, which can be done with Bluetooth and doesn’t impact your data plan. Another way to transfer data is using a dedicated app, such as Bump. Bump doesn’t have an iPad app, but the iPhone version works just fine on the iPad. Bump allows you to send photos, apps, contacts and music between devices. Again, though, Bump will use your data connection if you aren’t connected via Wi-Fi. It is free however, and enables you to send more than Mail does. Another similar app is Mover. It’s a Universal application, so it has an iPad-specific interface in addition to one designed for the iPhone. It also works over Bluetooth, saving you precious mobile data. Mover can’t send music or apps like Bump can, but it can send contacts, photos, text and videos. There are some reviews in the App Store saying Mover doesn’t work, but I’ve never had problems with it, and it has been great for quickly copying information over. Mover costs $1.99 in the App Store, and it also has a free Mac companion app that lets you transfer files from your computer to your iOS device. Using a dedicated app isn’t only an efficient way to transfer data, but both Bump and Mover use interesting mechanics to transfer the data — bumping the phones together and Read More

By Leanna Lofte, Friday, Jun 3, 2011 | Every day, TiPb gets flooded with announcements for new and updated iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games. So every day we pick just a few of the most interesting, the most notable, and simply the most awesome to share with you! Gowalla: Now with an enhanced activity feed, a streamlined UI for adding photos, an option to automatically connect with Facebook friends, and more! [Free - iTunes link] Photogene for iPad: Now with localized effects (like masking), a collage maker, compare mode, Picasa support, and more! [$2.99 - iTunes link] Waterlogged: Now you can share your progress on Twitter, premium users can backup their data, and add negative amounts for activities that mean you should drink more water. [Free, with in-app purchases iTunes link] Week Calendar: See all your appointments for the week in one neatly organized overview. Update to 3.1 brings many new UI improvements and features. [$1.99 - iTunes link] Bump: Sharing with people is as simple as bumping two phones together. Now with faster photo uploads, and alerts if the transfer is unsuccessful. [Free - iTunes link] Any other big apps or game releases or updates today? If you pick any of these up, let us know what you think! Read More

Deutschland verschickt 80.000 SMS – pro Minute. So geht das nicht weiter! Anscheinend doch, weil dies laut Bitkom-Zahlen einem Zuwachs von überragenden 20-Prozent gegenüber dem Vorjahr (2009) entspricht. Durchschnittlich sendete damit jeder Deutsche im vergangenen Jahr 500 dieser überteuerten Zeichensätze. Aber…das kann es doch nicht sein! Die Deutsche Telekom verkündet stolz für das letzte Geschäftsquartal: “Fast 60% der in D verkauften Handys sind #Smartphones“. Und was machen wir intelligenten Wesen mit diesen intelligenten Telefonen: SMS verschicken! Das uns das nicht peinlich ist? Zugegeben: SMS-Flatrates und preisbegrenzte ‘Airbag’-Pakete verführen. Immerhin hat man diese im bunten Feature-Strauß der Mobilfunkanbieter einmal dazugebucht, richtig?. Ich hoffe, es ist allen bewusst, dass durch jede verschickte SMS der Weiterentwicklung vernünftiger Datentarife Stöcke zwischen die Beine geworfen werden!? “Warum den Leuten unbegrenzte Internet-Verträge anbieten, wenn Sie mit 160 Zeichen in Richtung eines einzelnen Empfängers zufrieden sind?” – oder um die Wikipedia zu zitieren: Die Datenübertragung per SMS ist derzeit eine der teuersten Datenübertragungsarten, die existiert. So kostet die Übertragung von einem Megabyte Daten per SMS bei den deutschen Mobilfunkanbietern derzeit zwischen 1423 EUR (bei 19 ct/Nachricht), 1123 EUR (bei 15 ct/Nachricht) und 674 EUR (bei 9 ct/Nachricht). Der Preis für die Übertragung der gleichen Datenmenge im Mobilfunk via GPRS liegt dagegen bei weniger als 50 Cent. Ja, ich bin ein bisschen enttäuscht von uns. Insbesondere, weil es nicht an Alternativen mangelt. Verbs (2.39 €; App Store-Link) ist seit vergangenem Dezember ein toller Instant Messenger. BeejiveIM (7.99 €; App Store-Link) spricht noch mehr Protokolle und beherrscht Push-Benachrichtigungen. Bump (kostenlos; App Store-Link) oder der WhatsApp Messenger (0.79 €; App Store-Link) sind aus Datenschutz-Perspektive vielleicht keine Leichtgewichte aber bieten alles was SMS noch nie zu leisten vermochte. Sprach- und Bild-Daten schlüpfen hier ohne Extra-Kosten durch die Leitung. Wer seinen Standort schnell übermitteln möchte, muss lediglich in der Lage sein, einen einzigen Knopf zu drücken. Wie viel einfacher kann man es den Nutzern noch machen? Das Thema (Push-)’E-Mail’ sei erst gar nicht erwähnt…(um die Dramaturgie noch einmal zu unterstreichen). Nein, das Thema ist (mir) ernst – wie bereits seit 2008. SMS verhindert Fortschritt. Die Technik, die bald ihren 20. Geburtstag feiert, hat ausgedient. Und daran kann jeder mithelfen. Read More

In today’s fresh apps, get physical while sharing content from your phone (Bump) or look someone in the eye when you call them (Qik Video Connect). Do you know how to bump? This app first launched for Android last year. It allows you to easily share photos, contacts, even apps just by bumping your Android against someone else’s. This major 2.0 release sports a brand new easy-to-use design, it’s much faster, and you can send multiple apps at one time. With this new version, once you bump someone’s phone, you share a connection and can later send him or her photos, chat messages, contacts and apps anytime, anywhere. You don’t need Apple’s FaceTime to make video calls. Qik Video Connect is a multi-platform video-calling app. This latest version allows for face-to-face talk between Android phones and iOS devices like the iPhone or iPad.  Better still, you can make the calls over Wi-Fi, 3G or 4G, and you can share live video to Facebook or Twitter. During a trial until June 1, you can send video mail for free. After the trial is over, it will cost you an optional fee to send video mail but receiving it will continue to be free. Read More

Bump, the popular app that lets users share photos, contacts, and apps by simply bumping their phones together has hit the big two-point-oh today. This update brings many enhancements along with it, including a new UI and a nice performance boost.    Not only does it look prettier, but it's more functional as well. The app now stores a complete list of everything that you've sent or received via Bump, including when and where you were at the time of the transaction. This update also allows you to create a connection with specific friends so you can send and receive photos, apps, and messages with each other, even if you're not currently in the phone bumping distance. Bump is free in the Android Market, and you can grab it with the widget down below. Bump Read More

Last year, when a friend and I went to buy our first iPhones, the first thing we went out and downloaded was Bump - the app that lets you share simply by bumping your phone into another one. It seemed like magic. At the time, however, it was only meant for sharing contact information and it soon made its way to the back of our app screens before eventually disappearing off our phones. These days, Bump is much more than simply a magic app to share your phone number and email address and today we got a chance to sit down with Bump co-founder and CEO David Lieb to talk about where the app has gone and where it's headed to next. First of all, if you haven't seen Bump lately, we highly recommend you give it a download and a second go around the block. It still has the magical bump action (and fun conversational innuendo) as ever at its heart, but it's gone well beyond simple contact sharing. Bump can let two people share photos, calendar events, app recommendations and music and even quickly let you compare connections and follow each other on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. It will even let you message other people so you don't have to worry about SMS fees. (If you're a cheapskate like me, that is.) According to Lieb, Bump is one of the most popular apps in the Apple App Store ever and has been downloaded more than 31 million times since it was first released two years ago. Right now, the advanced version of Bump described above is available on iOS, while Android still has music, contacts, photos, and app sharing - no social networks or calendar sharing. Photos sharing is, however, "by far the biggest feature," said Lieb, with between a half a million and a million photos going through their servers on any given day. The second most popular feature, app recommendations, should be making its way to Android possibly by the end of the week, as Lieb said they are working hard to get a new version of the Android app into the market. While the Android app is just catching up with the iPhone app, Lieb said that both will be adding more quickly, with a general goal of getting access to share everything accessible to users via Bump. Beyond that, however, Bump will start interacting in Read More

Android devices are a reliable, powerful companion for heavy business users. The operating system continues to improve, so here’s our take on some of the best business apps available in the Android Market. Our list is by no means exhaustive, but we at least wanted to share the news: Android, more than ever, is a great bet for business users. Before you even start planning for that meeting, slideshow or presentation, you’ll need to get your travels in order first. Fortunately, the Android platform offers numerous apps to help you along. Kayak helps you book flights, hotels and cars and organize your itinerary. Other big-name players in the area like Orbitz and Priceline also have a presence on Android devices these days. Many of the top national and international airlines are well represented in the Android marketplace. British Airways, Southwest Airlines, Delta, American Airlines and others all offer handy apps for your business travel needs, some with useful features like mobile boarding passes. Once you’ve booked your flight, car and hotel, TripIt is an indispensable tool for the business traveler. It keeps all your pertinent itinerary information at hand, saving you the hassle of trawling through your already-overflowing inbox to look for that important reservation email. There’s plenty of name-brand apps to keep you up-to-date on the latest business news, whether you want analysis or the latest stock market quotes. Yahoo! has long been the top finance web site on the Internet and the Yahoo! Finance app doesn’t disappoint either with its news analysis, stock tickers and personalization features. Bloomberg is another respected source with business/finance news, market data and stock tracking tools, and Android offers apps from other major finance big-wigs like CNBC and Google Finance. More trading-oriented apps from companies like E*Trade and Fidelity Investments are also available, so you have no excuse to not keep up with your portfolio. If you travel for business, or are just generally using your Android for work, communication apps like Google Voice and Skype are essential tools for making voice calls or sending messages. There are many other VoIP apps in the Android marketplace which offer free video calling or instant messaging. However, if you want something a little more business focused, Cisco WebEx Meetings allows for mobile web conferencing over both 3G and Wi-Fi connections, so you can attend that important meeting wherever you are. Also, if your Android’s built-in GMail Read More