Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has planned to close its photo, contact, and file sharing service Bump by the end of this month, according to Bump CEO and Co-founder David Lieb. The web giant acquired Bump and Flock in September not revealing the amount, but it was speculated to be somewhere around $35 million.
Bump may be offered in other Google services
Through Bump users could exchange the data through connection established by physically bumping the smartphones against each other. The app uses the accelerometer of both Android and iOS based device instead of near field communication (NFC) technology. NFC technology has been embraced by latest Android based phones and tablets, but Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has not yet integrated this technology into its iPhone. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) acquired Bump because of its patent and innovations. Although the app is being discontinued it could be seen indirectly in various other Google services such as Google+, in future.
Lieb said that Bump has to be closed down because the company is focussing its efforts towards newer projects. The users would be able to get their data before the service discontinues.
In his blog, Lieb wrote that the Bump team joined Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) in September last year to offer users service of sharing data and interact with each other. He added that users can retain their data by following the instructions within the next 30 days. After following the instructions users would receive an email with a link that will contain all data like photos, videos, contacts from Bump or Flock.
He said that Bump and Flock team have received feedbacks that were inspiring and humbling for them. He added, in his blog, that Bump was a groundbreaking app that helped many subsequent advances and helped push the world forward, and they expect that the new product from Google would achieve the same popularity.
Google waging price war
Apart from apps and services, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is also focusing on its hardware as recently the company dropped the price of Motorola flagship smartphone the Moto X to $399 for the United States without a wireless contract, from $550 originally. Back in December, the prices were slashed to $349 for a limited time for promotion, but the drop to $399 is a permanent price. At present, the Moto X is available in North and South America and, therefore, decline in price would have limited global effect on the sales.
