The Galaxy S III is packed to the brim with top-notch hardware and some software novelties. One such software feature on the S3 is S-Beam, that allows for quick sharing of files with other Galaxy S III via NFC over Wi-Fi Direct. The concept of the feature is simple – Select a bunch of files on one S3, bump the two handsets together, and then NFC will automatically setup a Wi-Fi direct connection between the devices and the file will be transferred blazingly fast from one S3 to another.

While this may seem like a trivial and useless feature to many, I cannot emphasize enough on how easier and faster this will make sharing all those HD video clips with your friends. When Google announced Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, it stated that Android Beam has now been updated to allow for sharing of pictures and videos, making the feature much more useful. Considering NFC does not have enough bandwith to transfer videos or photos, Google should have used Wi-Fi direct for transferring the files.

They should have, but they did not. Android Beam in Jelly Bean uses Bluetooth to send over photos and videos and NOT Wi-Fi Direct. The use of Bluetooth means that the transfer process will take ages to complete, compared to the blazing fast Wi-Fi Direct. I am not even sure why Google has used Bluetooth instead of Wi-Fi Direct here. All modern NFC equipped Android phones have all the required support and protocols in place for Wi-Fi Direct.