What's it like to use the Galaxy S3 Touch to send files

GimmeSlack12 · Dec 16, 2012, 06:53 PM

So the Galaxy S3 commercials show people touching phones together to send stuff to each other. They send movies mainly. Now... look I get that that's a neat feature, but I'm very skeptical that it is particularly fast (much rather as easy as bumping phones).

How's it work in real life? Really easy? Sort of easy? Total pain? Useless?

siiip5 · Dec 16, 2012, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GimmeSlack12

So the Galaxy S3 commercials show people touching phones together to send stuff to each other. They send movies mainly. Now... look I get that that's a neat feature, but I'm very skeptical that it is particularly fast (much rather as easy as bumping phones).

How's it work in real life? Really easy? Sort of easy? Total pain? Useless?

No one is going to use NFC to transfer large files. To slow for that. But small personal vids or pics really is simple. That said sharing this way is not what I would call common.

Esoom · Dec 16, 2012, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GimmeSlack12

So the Galaxy S3 commercials show people touching phones together to send stuff to each other. They send movies mainly. Now... look I get that that's a neat feature, but I'm very skeptical that it is particularly fast (much rather as easy as bumping phones).

How's it work in real life? Really easy? Sort of easy? Total pain? Useless?

It looks really simple in the ads, I must be sort of ignorant because I can't get it to work at all, gave up after about half an hour with my S3 and a Galaxy nexus I gave my GF.

Best I can tell is you have to select the photo, set it up to be shared, then touch another phone that has the feature turned on and accept the file. But like i said, I can't get it to work. Worst part was realizing I had a picture of my c*ck in my photo album while I was browsing my phone at work that I hadn't deleted.

mib1800 · Dec 16, 2012, 07:21 PM

^^did you turn on the NFC in Settings?

blackhand1001 · Dec 16, 2012, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by siiip5

No one is going to use NFC to transfer large files. To slow for that. But small personal vids or pics really is simple. That said sharing this way is not what I would call common.

It doesnt actually use the nfc to transfer the file. It sets up an automatic bluetooth connection between two devices and if both devices support wifi direct it uses that instead which is faster. Once you do the initial tap to beam process the devices don;t have to be next to each other anymore. Just stay within 20 yards until the transfer completes.

nickchallis92 · Dec 16, 2012, 07:54 PM

You're thinking of S-Beam which is a Samsung exclusive feature (works between the S3, Note II and maybe the S3 mini?). Makes a connection using NFC then uses wifi direct to send large files (very quickly).

You're not getting that option with the Galaxy Nexus because it doesnt support S-Beam but does support the android-native 'android beam' which can be used to send basic stuff like contact cards etc

GimmeSlack12 · Dec 16, 2012, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Esoom

Worst part was realizing I had a picture of my c*ck in my photo album while I was browsing my phone at work that I hadn't deleted.

Gotta be careful, there's always a peener out there ready to ruin your day.

Anyway, the consensus seems that it isn't as simple as the commercials make it seem. Which is what I expected. Much rather that people dont use this feature very much.

I guess apple should show the Bump app in action. That was one of e very first big apps out there.

Timzer · Dec 16, 2012, 08:20 PM

It's extremely easy. You turn on S Beam in your settings. Then you go to the file your transferring, touch phones and it's done via WiDi. Very fast. It doesn't get easier than that.

blackhand1001 · Dec 16, 2012, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickchallis92

You're thinking of S-Beam which is a Samsung exclusive feature (works between the S3, Note II and maybe the S3 mini?). Makes a connection using NFC then uses wifi direct to send large files (very quickly).

You're not getting that option with the Galaxy Nexus because it doesnt support S-Beam but does support the android-native 'android beam' which can be used to send basic stuff like contact cards etc

The galaxy nexus supports beaming of photos and files now. It was added in the jellybean update. It generally uses bluetooth to do so.

Esoom · Dec 16, 2012, 10:35 PM

I listen to the engadget mobile podcast regularly, and Mirriam commented a couple of shows ago about how stupidly complex and obtuse some of Samsung's features are, and how she and another well known tech blogger were trying to use the features in the Note 2 and how they couldn't figure out most of them and how frustrating it was.

3bs · Dec 16, 2012, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Esoom

I listen to the engadget mobile podcast regularly, and Mirriam commented a couple of shows ago about how stupidly complex and obtuse some of Samsung's features are, and how she and another well known tech blogger were trying to use the features in the Note 2 and how they couldn't figure out most of them and how frustrating it was.

I guess they've never heard of youtube

Eddie Bombay · Dec 17, 2012, 12:16 AM

S beamed some pics on my buds Nexus 7 just fine. Was easy

GimmeSlack12 · Dec 17, 2012, 01:09 AM

Ok, so it seems that S-Beaming things isn't so tough. Fun.

They should get that name out there more though, I have never heard of "S Beam" before.

kdarling · 05:58 AM

I mainly use the NFC touch transfer when my son-in-law comes to visit. (He loves technology.) We use to transfer items when we're sitting next to each other on the couch watching TV and using our phones.

You hold your devices back-to-back or close together (depending on phone or tablet) with the receiver on its homepage and the sender on the item you wish to transfer. A picture of what will transfer pops up on the sender and you click to confirm. Depending on what's being transferred, the receiving device may show a receive confirmation that they tap.

Examples of transfers:

Looking at a web page -> tap -> other phone opens browser to that page
Looking at a map -> tap -> other phone is looking at the same location
Navigation directions -> tap -> other phone now has same directions
Watching a YouTube video -> tap -> video opens on other device
Looking at photo(s) -> tap -> transfers photo(s) to other device
Looking at a contact -> tap -> other phone gets copy of contact
Using an app -> tap -> other phone opens to that app in the Market
Viewing a contact-> tap -> transfers contact to other device

It's pretty handy when you're next to someone. You don't even need to know their name, so it's an anonymous way to transfer stuff. E.g. someone stops you for directions, you could bring them up on your phone and tap to transfer. No phone number or email address is necessary.

That's for Android. I haven't tried an NFC Blackberry yet. It's up to each manufacturer as to what they can do. Most phones with NFC should at least accept basic file transfers.

--

Another cool feature that Samsung has is called "All Share". Everyone in a group can enable it on their camera, and all devices share photos (via WiFi) that are taken while the feature is turned on. Pretty cool for parties.

Dec 16, 2012, 06:53 PM	#1
GimmeSlack12 macrumors 603 Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: San Francisco	What's it like to use the Galaxy S3 Touch to send files So the Galaxy S3 commercials show people touching phones together to send stuff to each other. They send movies mainly. Now... look I get that that's a neat feature, but I'm very skeptical that it is particularly fast (much rather as easy as bumping phones). How's it work in real life? Really easy? Sort of easy? Total pain? Useless? __________________ iMac 24" iBook G4 iPhone 4 iPod 80Gb
	0

Dec 16, 2012, 10:35 PM	#10
Esoom macrumors member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Los Angeles	I listen to the engadget mobile podcast regularly, and Mirriam commented a couple of shows ago about how stupidly complex and obtuse some of Samsung's features are, and how she and another well known tech blogger were trying to use the features in the Note 2 and how they couldn't figure out most of them and how frustrating it was. __________________ 2011 13" MBA l iP5, iP4 l iPad mini, gen I,II,III l iPod Touch gen 4,5 l stockholder
	0

Dec 17, 2012, 12:16 AM	#12
Eddie Bombay macrumors 6502 Join Date: Aug 2011	S beamed some pics on my buds Nexus 7 just fine. Was easy __________________ Samsung Series 9 11.6" Notebook \| Galaxy S III \| Asus Transformer Prime Apple TV 2nd Gen \| iPod Touch 4th Gen 64GB iPad Mini \| iPad 2 - 32GB AT&T
	0

Dec 17, 2012, 01:09 AM	#13
GimmeSlack12 Thread Starter macrumors 603 Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: San Francisco	Ok, so it seems that S-Beaming things isn't so tough. Fun. They should get that name out there more though, I have never heard of "S Beam" before. __________________ iMac 24" iBook G4 iPhone 4 iPod 80Gb
	0

Dec 17, 2012, 05:48 AM	#14
kdarling macrumors Demi-God Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Device engineer for 30 yrs, touchscreens for 20.	I mainly use the NFC touch transfer when my son-in-law comes to visit. (He loves technology.) We use to transfer items when we're sitting next to each other on the couch watching TV and using our phones. You hold your devices back-to-back or close together (depending on phone or tablet) with the receiver on its homepage and the sender on the item you wish to transfer. A picture of what will transfer pops up on the sender and you click to confirm. Depending on what's being transferred, the receiving device may show a receive confirmation that they tap. Examples of transfers: Looking at a web page -> tap -> other phone opens browser to that page Looking at a map -> tap -> other phone is looking at the same location Navigation directions -> tap -> other phone now has same directions Watching a YouTube video -> tap -> video opens on other device Looking at photo(s) -> tap -> transfers photo(s) to other device Looking at a contact -> tap -> other phone gets copy of contact Using an app -> tap -> other phone opens to that app in the Market Viewing a contact-> tap -> transfers contact to other device It's pretty handy when you're next to someone. You don't even need to know their name, so it's an anonymous way to transfer stuff. E.g. someone stops you for directions, you could bring them up on your phone and tap to transfer. No phone number or email address is necessary. That's for Android. I haven't tried an NFC Blackberry yet. It's up to each manufacturer as to what they can do. Most phones with NFC should at least accept basic file transfers. -- Another cool feature that Samsung has is called "All Share". Everyone in a group can enable it on their camera, and all devices share photos (via WiFi) that are taken while the feature is turned on. Pretty cool for parties. Last edited by kdarling; Dec 17, 2012 at 05:58 AM.
	0

Dec 16, 2012, 07:21 PM	#4
mib1800 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Sep 2012	^^did you turn on the NFC in Settings?
	0

Dec 16, 2012, 07:54 PM	#6
nickchallis92 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Mar 2012	You're thinking of S-Beam which is a Samsung exclusive feature (works between the S3, Note II and maybe the S3 mini?). Makes a connection using NFC then uses wifi direct to send large files (very quickly). You're not getting that option with the Galaxy Nexus because it doesnt support S-Beam but does support the android-native 'android beam' which can be used to send basic stuff like contact cards etc
	2

Dec 16, 2012, 08:20 PM	#8
Timzer Banned Join Date: Nov 2011	It's extremely easy. You turn on S Beam in your settings. Then you go to the file your transferring, touch phones and it's done via WiDi. Very fast. It doesn't get easier than that.
	0


MacRumors Forums > iPhone, iPod and iPad > Alternatives to iOS and iOS Devices

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode