Your Desktop Is Bumpin'

Touch me, feel me, download me ...

By SCOTT BUDMAN

Updated 4:07 AM EDT, Sun, Apr 12, 2009

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Anand Agarawala doesn't look much like Tom Cruise. But when he sat down in our studio to introduce his new startup piece of software, there was a bit of a "Minority Report" vibe happening.

You may know Anand from a long-running YouTube video filmed during a previous TED Conference, where he shows off an early version of what is now called "BumpTop." It was very much like the movie, with Anand moving his hands around in the air, flinging applications around much like we saw in the movie. I remember seeing the TED video, and wondering just what, if anything, will actually make it from the demo to the real world.

We now know .. quite a few things, actually. Not enough to owe royalties to DreamWorks or anything, but some cool touch-screen stuff we haven't really seen before. Assuming you have a screen that can let your fingers do the working, you can download BumpTop and move files and photos all over the place. Re-size, flip, upload to Facebook, organize, all with the touch of your finger. It's a free download for the basic BumpTop; $29 gets you the primo version with a few extras. If your screen can't handle your touch, by the way, you can still use BumpTop, with your mouse.

The big selling point from the (still very small) company making the software is that with it, you can better organize your files, and send things directly from your desktop to, say, Twitter, just by pushing it over. It does look pretty cool, and given what companies like HP and Dell are trying to do with touch-screen laptops and desktops, seems like a quick acquisition target for someone hoping to develop that kind of software.

A game changer? Not sure yet. We're used to touching our phones by now, but you don't see too many people reaching out and poking their computers in your local coffeeshop. Give BumpTop a try. I'm curious what you think about it.

Your Desktop Is Bumpin'