One of the most exciting features to be announced with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S3 is S Beam, which uses near field communication (NFC) and Wi-Fi Direct to send files between two phones.
Android 4.0 already has a feature called Android Beam, which works over NFC to transmit information such as contact details and browser pages from one mobile to another. But it doesn't use Wi-Fi Direct so it's impractical for larger files.
By combining NFC and Wi-Fi Direct, S Beam is capable of sending larger files between phones, such as images, videos and music tracks. The transfer is initiated by NFC and the actual file transfer is handled using Wi-Fi Direct. This means you can expect transfer speeds of up to 300MBps.
How to enable S Beam
You can activate both Android Beam and S Beam through the Settings app on your Galaxy S3. To do this, go to Settings > More settings, and you will see separate entries for both. Tap on each of them to ensure that they are activated.
You will need to enable NFC in the same settings window as well, as this allows the phone to transfer information with other NFC-enabled devices.
How to transfer files using S Beam
Transferring a file between two phones couldn't be simpler. You simply navigate to the image, video or music track that you want to send and hold the back of your phone against the back of another S Beam-capable device. Your phone will tell you to 'tap to beam', and the file transfer will begin.
As the transfer uses Wi-Fi Direct, you can then take the phones away from each other and the transfer will continue uninterrupted. You don't need to be connected to the same network for this -- it all happens automatically between the phones.
At the moment, S Beam is only available on the Galaxy S3, although as Samsung continues to release more Android 4.0 devices, you will be able to transfer files in this way between more models. You can use the Android Beam functionality with any phone running Android 4.0 or later that has NFC capabilities.
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anonymous 18 August, 2012 03:07
Mine doesnt work. I cant recieve files from a friends s3 i have android beam and s beam on no luck just get connection errors after we seperate phones.
anonymous 2 October, 2012 19:38
Doesn't work for me either, tho' its a little femme for my taste, so, no biggie
anonymous 4 October, 2012 12:21
Do you have to be on wi-fi just to send pics or can it be done on 3g?
anonymous 5 October, 2012 17:57
My wife and I both have the s3. NFC, Android Beam and S Beam are all turned on in both phones. Tap 'em together and we get a few musical notes like something is happening but nothing appears to have been transfered????? Clueless about what to do.
anonymous 7 October, 2012 16:39
i like this feature but most of my friends have iphone can i transfer my files by tapping their iphone
anonymous 10 October, 2012 12:35
You can. Just tap onto their iphone so it breaks and get a new s3
anonymous 17 October, 2012 23:11
turn nfc, s-beam, wifi direct on, hold phones together and tap the phone that has the file you want to send( either by looking at the file you want to send before doing this, or choosing send files via nfc from the menu where the file is) then pull the phones apart and the transfer begins, don't hold the phones together after tapping to begin.
anonymous 19 October, 2012 17:27
I WantAll games need sprites (which are just pictures) that, in of themselves, do nothing. They are the elements that make up the game parts.
The sprites are later turned into objects (which can be programmed).
Backgrounds are just that—they are what you see in the background.
Backgrounds are colors, or textures, or even pictures.
The backgrounds are later used as part of the rooms.
Sounds are little files (usually .wav files) that add another dimension to games. They are used directly in the programming.
Rooms are the “playing fields” for the games. If you want to change the “playing field”, you change the room. Rooms can be changed to different sizes and detail.
anonymous 20 January, 2013 05:38
My bf and mine sg3 used to work but stopped after we updated. Very frustrating amd annoying.
anonymous 28 January, 2013 13:41
Why go thru the trouble of activating Sbeam and NFC then sending the files to another phone when you can just pull you notification bar down activate wifi direct and just send the file without tapping the two phones together? I can send two complete movies to another phone in about 10 seconds...wifi direct in empressively fast!
anonymous 13 March, 2013 13:04
worked for me...its great
anonymous 14 March, 2013 13:33
Just like Siri and Svoice - This is another fairly useless gimmick from Android.
Love my S3 but sbeam is pretty close to bloatware in my book. As soon as NFC enabled devices start rolling out more widespread it will all remain switched off on my phone.
anonymous 16 April, 2013 20:28
not working for S3 and Note 2. im really frustrated.. yes, Wifi Direct is terribly fast as compared to sharing via bluetooth.