Greg's bite: Apple's Bumping corrections

Greg's bite: Apple's Bumping corrections

By Greg Mills

My Bump and pay by phone article that run on Monday had some factual errors that I must correct. I got an email from a nice Lady from Bump Technologies with interesting insight into the "Bump" App I briefly described (http://itunes.apple.com/app/bump/id305479724?mt=8) , as well as interesting information she had regarding pay by smart phone that I must pass this on to you, my readers.  

My assumption that the contact information traded between iPhones is done locally turns out to be wrong. It happens in the cloud! My assumption was that iPhones or Androids used Bluetooth to trade contacts. Here is the information Sadie Bascom sent me: 

I did however want to offer a correction in a couple of places regarding the Bump app. Firstly, regarding this quote "Then comes Apple with a new Bump to Pay concept." PayPal is responsible for the Bump to pay app, not Apple. They integrated Bump Technologies' API to allow for their already existing app to become "bumpable." See the link to the app on iTunes; however, it is also available on Android devices. (See http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paypal/id283646709?mt=8 .)

Secondly, in response to this quote: "The two phones used bluetooth to trade contact info automatically. I guess you have to be careful who you “bump” into anymore" Bump doesn't use Bluetooth to communicate between devices at all. There are two parts to Bump: the app running on your device and a smart matching algorithm running on our servers in the cloud. The app on your phone uses the phone's sensors to literally "feel" the bump, and it sends that info up to the cloud. The matching algorithm listens to the bumps from phones around the world and pairs up phones that felt the same bump. Then we just route information between the two phones in each pair. This is done via wifi.  See the web site for Bump Technologies at http://www.bu.mp  -- Best, Sadie Bascom Bump Evangelist. 

Well, it just goes to show you, one never know who you are going to "Bump" into on the Web!  

While PayPay is doing their pay by smartphone thing, I think I read somewhere that Apple is also working on their spin on that concept. When I am mis-informed I invite my readers to let me know so we can correct false information.  

(Greg Mills is currently a Faux Artist in Kansas City. Formerly a new product R&D man for the paint sundry market, he holds 11 US patents. He's working on a solar energy startup using a patent pending process of turning waste dual pane glass into thermal solar panels used to heat water. Married, with one daughter still at home, Greg writes for intellectual web sites and Mac related issues. See Greg's web sites at http://www.gregmills.info . He can be emailed at gregmills@mac.com )

 
AAPL
$282.52
Apple Inc.
-1.23
MSFT
$24.38
Microsoft Corpora
-0.11
GOOG
$525.62
Google Inc.
-0.17
MacTech Search:
Community Search:
See All

Introducing the App Hall of Fame!
App discoverability continues to be a real issue. With the fast churn of apps in the App Store, an app has only a few weeks of promotional life in it before it‚Äôs largely forgotten. There are a few things developers can do to fix that, but those... | Read more »
Gobliiins Are Coming
In the midst of the huge Q4 launch schedule, the cult classic, Gobliiins, as well as the rest of the trilogy, are being ported to the iPhone in all of their original glory. The Goblins trilogy was a quirky Atari/Amiga game series from the early 90‚Äôs... | Read more »
myPhoneDesktop – Chrome to iPhone Extens...
Anyone who has used myPhoneDesktop knows that it is a fantastic tool for streamlining your onscreen workflow. Instead of having to type line after line into your phone directly, you can use myPhoneDesktop to type from your computer directly into... | Read more »
Classes Review
Developer: Dustlab Price: $0.99 Version Reviewed: 2.4.7 iPhone Integration Rating: 3 out of 5 stars User Interface Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 3 out of 5 stars Overall Rating: 3.33 out of 5 stars | Read more »
AutoVerbal Talking Soundboard Pro helps...
Being able to speak and communicate with others is something that many of us take for granted. It‚Äôs not so easy for many folks though, in particular for individuals with autism spectrum disorders, as well as those who have suffered various brain... | Read more »
Pocketbooth Review
Developer: Project Box Price: $0.99 Version Reviewed: 1.0 iPhone Integration Rating: 4 out of 5 stars User Interface Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars Overall Rating: 4.17 out of 5 stars | Read more »
Get Your Roast Right With ‘Time To Roast...
Roasting meat, in the cooking world, is about as simple as it gets. The greatest roast recipe I‚Äôve ever found is from Michael Ruhlman‚Äôs website, with the recipe titled, ‚ÄúThe World‚Äôs Most Difficult Roasted Chicken Recipe.‚Äù | Read more »
See All

  • Generate a short URL for this page:



All contents are Copyright 1984-2010 by Xplain Corporation. All rights reserved. Theme designed by Icreon.
Greetings, and welcome to the new MacTech web site! Our home page is designed to be your Industry Dashboard -- so you can have a snapshot of all that's relevant in the industry in one easy location. Many readers tell us that because the information is updated so frequently, they are now checking the site multiple times a day. Here's a quick run down of the features on the new web site, which can be subtle. We truly hope you register so that we can keep you up to date about new features as they are implemented. And, please use the BETA button in the top right to provide us any feedback, suggestions or bugs. We love to hear from you.