BumpTop Launches Fresh, Intuitive 3D Computer Desktop

New computer desktop combines look and feel of a real desk with computing power of your PC

(TORONTO – April 8, 2009) – Today, BumpTop launches a fun, intuitive and visual approach to the computer desktop. BumpTop combines the look and feel of a real desk with the power of the PC: it lets users spatially organize and share their files and photos with their social contacts, while adding advanced search and sort capabilities to enhance productivity and deliver the ultimate computer desktop.

Previously featured at TED, the annual invitation-only Technology, Entertainment, Design conference, the BumpTop beta video has been viewed over 3.2 million times on YouTube, and has spawned an active and involved beta community.

“Research shows that just about everyone creates piles on their real desks, and many people rely on piling and stacking to keep organized. In contrast, the PC desktop forces users into inflexible folder hierarchies, and has maintained the same rigid and flat look and feel for decades,” said BumpTop co-founder and CEO Anand Agarawala. “BumpTop takes advantage of how human beings work and play using real interactions like tossing, piling and bumping. It increases productivity, connects you to your social networks and just makes life easier.”

Key features include:

Intuitive Organization: BumpTop uses the power of the PC to let users quickly and easily find the files they’re looking for. Frequently used files actually appear larger and heavier than lesser-used ones, becoming visually more important. Users can search by keyword and quickly gather related files into a pile, toss them directly onto a USB key or attach them to a new email, all in one step.

Productivity Enhancer: BumpTop is the ultimate digital assistant and can instantly clean up users’ cluttered desks with Auto Pile, intelligently organizing their documents into tidy piles without losing instant access to everything.

The Social Desktop: BumpTop lets users stay connected with their social networks. Users can toss photos to Twitter and Facebook in just two steps. Users can also pin up photo frames on their BumpTop walls, cycling through the latest photos from Flickr, Picasa or other photo RSS feeds.

Personalized User Interface: BumpTop gives users a customizable desk and walls to create whatever look they like, using the rich variety of user-created themes or generating their own. The walls are perfect for pinning up Sticky Notes, photos or important documents.

“The personal computer desktop interface has remained largely unchanged through the years. I am encouraged to see the BumpTop software add a much-needed visual enhancement to the desktop and provide consumers with a truly personalized PC experience,” said Ben Bajarin, analyst at Creative Strategies.

BumpTop leverages the computer’s graphics and processing power to deliver a visually compelling desktop that is a launch pad for activity and connection instead of a graveyard for lost and unused files and shortcuts.

“BumpTop is bringing a new level of fun and interactivity to desktop PCs,” said Jeff Herbst, vice president of business development of NVIDIA. “Harnessing the capabilities of a graphics processor, BumpTop creates a 3D representation of your own desk, and this will dramatically change the way people interact with their files, photos, videos and more.”

BumpTop is the perfect complement for the upcoming Windows 7 introduction and the wave of multi-touch hardware. Microsoft provides the infrastructure for touch support which BumpTop exploits with its rich graphical UI and natural gesture interaction for day-to-day and social applications. BumpTop was designed from the ground up with touch input in mind, while maintaining ease of use and full functionality for mouse use.

The Pro version of BumpTop is available immediately for download at www.BumpTop.com for $29. A free version is also available for users who would like to try out BumpTop and experience the fun, intuitive way to interact with their files and photos.

Click here to see what people are saying about BumpTop.

Click here to check out a long-time beta tester's "A Day in the Life" using BumpTop.

Media contact: media@bumptop.com