The team behind popular contact- and file-sharing app Bump and photo-aggregating app Flock announced this week they will be shutting down the apps to continue work on other projects inside Google. Bump, acquired by Google in September, will no longer be available by the end of this month. Bump and Flock users are encouraged to export all their data by following the instructions that become available when opening either of the apps. Continue reading Google Shuts Down Bump App: Users Have January to Save Data

Google announced it has acquired Bump, the popular mobile app that enables users to share contact info, images, videos and files by simply “bumping” mobile devices into each other. While neither company revealed specifics of the deal, a source close to the transaction told AllThingsD that Google paid between $30 and $60 million. The news comes as Apple releases its iOS 7 today, which includes a similar technology called AirDrop, a new means of wirelessly sharing files with other nearby Apple device users. Continue reading Google Acquires Mobile Startup Bump as Apple Unveils AirDrop

Facebook announced its new shared photo albums feature yesterday that allows as many as 50 “contributors” to upload 200 images each to the same album. That means the shared albums can be as large as 10,000 photos in total. Previously, users were only able to upload photos to albums they had created, while albums were limited to 1,000 images. The new feature may affect photo album apps such as Albumatic and Flock. It is also similar to Google+’s Party Mode, which lets users share photos and videos. Continue reading Facebook Unveils Shared Photo Albums, Ideal for Group Events