Samsung's S Beam teaches Android a new trick

From CNET News.com: In opening up its Android operating system, Google ensured one thing: that handset-makers would have the room they needed to dress up Google's little green OS however they please.

With S Beam on the Samsung Galaxy S III, Samsung took a good feature, Android Beam, and made it great.

For the uninitiated, Android Beam uses NFC (near-field communication) to transfer instructions for calling up things like contact information and URLs from one NFC-enabled phone to another.

S Beam ups the ante with a Wi-Fi Direct handshake that also makes it able to transfer photos, video, and other documents via NFC. S Beam works with GSIII phones for now, but will likely work on future Samsung tablets and phones.

Admittedly, S Beam's sphere of usefulness is a little slim right now, since Android Ice Cream Sandwich phones are still marching out. You'll still be able to beam anything you can with Android Beam from one compatible phone to another, so that helps advance the cause.

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