Google Buys Bump Technologies, Continues Acquisition Frenzy

The Bump Technologies acquisition boosts the number of public acquisitions that Google has made so far in 2010 to nine.

Bump Technologies revealed the deal on Friday. Google reportedly confirmed the purchase of the three-year-old Bump Technologies, but did not disclose financial terms or additional information. Google could not be reached for additional comment Monday morning.

"Today we have a big announcement to make: we're excited to announce that we've been acquired by Google!" Bump wrote in a letter on its Web site. "This means that BumpTop (for both Windows and Mac) will no longer be available for sale. Additionally, no updates to the products are planned."

Google's acquisition of BumpTop could be a sign that Google is looking to take on Apple and its widely popular iPhone smartphone and iPad tablet. BumpTop uses what the company calls "pile creation techniques" for 3D multitouch desktops on Windows and Macs. The technology lets users scroll through and shuffle documents from the desktop, as seen in this video demo of BumpTop.

Google could add the BumpTop technology to its line of Google Android smartphones and rumored Android tablet to enable multitouch and offer a unique interface experience with a 3D desktop UI.

The acquisition of BumpTop follows a string of recent pickups by the Mountain View, Calif.-based search giant, which this year has acquired a host of other companies including social search company Aardvark; hardware maker Agnilux; Microsoft Office collaboration suite DocVerse; video streaming company Episodic; game application and widget maker LabPixies; online photo editor Picnik; visual search provider Plink; and mobile email provider reMail.

Google's 2010 acquisitions follow a trajectory started in late 2009, with the August purchase of video codec provider On2 Technologies followed by the $750 million acquisition of mobile ad maker AdMob, which is still pending approval by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).