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linkedin-iphone-inpersonThere’s a nice little feature addition to LinkedIn’s just updated iPhone app. Building on iPhone 3.0 OS’s expanded support for Bluetooth, you can connect or exchange contact details with others in person through the app.

It’s quite similar to what Bump Technologies demoed when the startup initially showed off its product nine months ago. In their version, if you held two phones side by side, you could share e-mail addresses or phone numbers. It was a natural next-generation version of the old business card, so others were bound to copy and commodify it.

But Sequoia-backed Bump is avoiding commodification — they’ve launched an application programming interface this month to support all types of physical phone-to-phone interaction. For example, that could mean bumping to exchange virtual gifts. Another goofy idea was to create a Bump Kevin Bacon, so you can see how many degrees of separation are between you and the actor. They also have a rough solution for Facebook friending and cross-platform support, so you can bump an Android phone against an iPhone.

Expect LinkedIn’s Bump-like interaction to show up in more places soon.