Google Nabs 3D, Multi-touch OS Skin Maker BumpTop

From DailyTech: In a surprising move, it is being reported that Google has scooped up hot multi-touch operating system skin maker BumpTop less than a month after BumpTop's first product made its commercial debut.

One disappointment of late is that there have been a relative lack of truly revolutionary operating system ideas. That's where BumpTop, a Canadian startup comes in. BumpTop has unveiled a vision of the future in which the user interacts with a 3D desktop via a set of intuitive gestures.

The project is not a full operating system itself, but rather a user interface skin that can go over an existing operating system. It was created as the Master's Thesis of Anand Agarawala, a student at The University of Toronto. The first versions work with Windows XP/Vista/7/Mac OS X.

The operating system features a variety of icon rearranging gestures, touch cropping, one touch transfers to USB and Facebook, and more. Agarawala's video explanation, found here, does the system far better justice, though, than a few brief words.

In its finished form, the interface bears a passing resemblance to the Microsoft Surface concept, though it features far more touch-driven fun.

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