Bump!
Recently found out about a free contact exchange app from Bump Technologies called, appropriately enough, Bump. According to their website “Bump makes swapping contact information as simple as bumping two phones together.” The video looks like magic. Sweet, iPhone magic.
I had to see this thing is action so a co-worker and I both installed Bump to test it out. Once you install the app, you enter your contact info and you’re ready to find someone to Bump. When you’re in a Bumping mood, you choose what info to share (phone, email, photo, address, or all of the above) and then Bump away.
I didn’t think the iPhone had anything that would detect another phone so I couldn’t see how physically bumping hands actually mattered. Instead, we tried doing a simultaneous jan-ken-po shake to get the party started. Woo! It worked!
Said “yes” to transfer info and voila, it was done in a couple of seconds. We both already had each other’s contact info and Bump was smart enough to update/append the transferred info to the existing records. Still seems like magic.
The app description says that Bump requires location info, or for both devices to be connected to the same wi-fi access point. It’s probably using a combination of proximity and timing to associate the two parties of the transfer. I’d love to see what happens if you had a room of people all shake at the same time. iPhone mixer anyone?
One last comment: Information is exchanged via wi-fi or 3G connection so I’m guessing data is traveling to Bump Technologies’ servers. They could be building a massive database of names and contact information. Make sure you read their privacy statement. Caveat bumper!
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By Jake Mintz, March 31, 2009 @ 1:04 am
elementalgeek,
Thank you for trying Bump(tm) and for the thoughtful review. You are correct, we are using a combination of location and timing to match phones in the cloud. Data does travel through our servers so that we can quickly manage the transfer after both parties confirm a correct match. Privacy is very important to us, if anyone has any concerns after reading our privacy policy, please email us.
Thanks,
Jake Mintz
Co-founder, Bump Technologies LLC