With Bumptop, Google Gains Multi-Touch Ammo

Google just landed some impressive 3D desktop software in its purchase of Bump Technologies, but a looming patent battle with Apple suggests that Google also had BumpTop’s multi-touch technology on the brain when it gobbled up the company. The existing BumpTop software for Windows and Mac, soon to be discontinued, arranges desktops into three-dimensional spaces. Users can arrange files into stacks and stick notes and photos to the walls, a lot like a real desk. But the real magic happened last October, when Bump introduced multi-touch gestures for BumpTop’s Windows edition. This allowed users to pan and zoom around the desktop and to stack up and fan out their documents with finger swipes