Just as there are many ways to bang, there are many ways to bump. For reference though, the comic illustrating “bumping” is a pretty extreme illustration. It was the best one I could find on the Internet for purposes of keeping this column at an R level since NC-17 is too narrow.

Now going back to the technology. I’m talking about bumping phones to exchange information, be it contact information such as a business card or address book entry, photos, files, and even money via Pay-Pal, who officially created an application to use their system securely. The application is known as Bump (bu.mp).

Bumping, is intended as simulating a fist pound while holding your phones. Through the use of the many sensors within the Android and iPhone, the application lets you exchange data without actually needing to have the phones contact each other. Unlike Bluetooth and the now obsolete Inferred standards, which also do not require physical device contact, Bumping is much more flexible and easier and more enjoyable (puns not intended).

Although the platform is fairly new, Bump sports an impressive array of features from the ability to connect your Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and numerous other social networking accounts to compare contacts/friends between yourself and people whom you may bump.

As mentioned earlier, PayPal has integrated Bump into their official iPhone and Android applications, which allows you to lend money with friends or contacts without having to lug a large silver briefcase around with you all day. Now you have the option of carrying your phone, or being fancy and buying a silver hard case for your phone.

While overall Bump has a great concept, the technology is limited to matching phones meaning an iPhone must bump an iPhone rather than opposites like an iPhone bumping an Android. iPad users can also use the iPhone version of Bump and an iPad version is in the works.