Google has acquired BumpTop Technologies, the makers of a 3D user-interface technology for the desktop. Rumors suggest that the company will want to use this technology to take on Apple’s iPad by retrofitting it into Google’s Android OS (operating system).
The BumpTop user-interface technology will look somewhat familiar to those long-time Mac users who are aware of Apple’s forays into 3D interfaces going all the way back to the System 8 era.
You can check out the BumpTop UI technology is this YouTube video here. How Google would actually use this UI technology on a smartphone device is very unclear. Not all of this technology’s capabilities would suit a small screen device like a smartphone. However, it many of these same concerns become opportunities on a device the size of the iPad.