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Bump, a product of Bump Technologies had, nearly a year ago; hit the ten million downloads mark. There are some applications that really manage to stand out thanks to their USP. Bump really stands out because of its novelty, and the fact that it looks like a ‘fun’ app to use. The Bump application, available on both the iOS and Android is an application that allows users to access each others’ contact details so that they can meet up, or talk later.

That is not to say that the application is not a secure one. The official Bump Technologies website states that “With Bump, the number one priority was ensuring the security of users’ personal information.” Consequently, with Bump the users themselves are in complete control of deciding who they share their information with. And even after you have met someone you would like to keep in touch with, you do get to accept or decline their invitation to share personal information. In relevance to this point, the newer version of the Bump application, used by Apple’s iOS systems, “is 100% encrypted end-to-end.” The previous Bump version, used in the Android OS uses an “https-based communication system,” which, despite being phased out, is still very secure. It is apparently a very simple to use application for smartphone carriers. Whenever you decide to share information with another Bump user, simply “bump” the phones lightly against each other. The application uses the phone’s sensors to feel the bump, and then share information with the other smartphone user, who you just bumped, with.

To ensure the maximum number of users, ‘Bump’ has also been designed keeping the basic version free of charge. The aim is to save people precious time that would otherwise be spent manually typing in the contact details of people you are interested in meeting or carrying around huge stacks of business cards that you keep exchanging with potential clients at say, a business conference. But at the ground level, how useful could this application actually be? People bump phones, get contact details and link up, but then again, doesn’t that take away the more personal touch that exchanging business cards or phone numbers actually have? And if I do get this particular application on my smartphone, would it actually work in a country where businessmen, for the most part at least still think very conservatively and prefer business cards to everything else?

It had even initially been advertised as an app that was meant to be used by businessmen meeting at conferences, to save them the hassle of carrying around and exchanging a bunch of business cards. However, there is really no reason why this particular application should not be used by a younger audience also. In fact, if we keep Pakistan, or rather the South Asian community under view, it is more likely that the youth, people involved in the technology industry or aspiring entrepreneurs are the only ones likely to use this technology rather than the older, more conservative businessmen of the country.

There are certain issues with the application itself that Bump Technologies needs to straighten out also. This includes the fact that “Bump for Android is a generation behind Bump for iPhone and doesn’t have access to all the cool new features.” Well, until this issue is ironed out, Pakistan could hope to make it more technology-friendly and use whatever version of Bump is available then.

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