Samsung is expanding its Quick Share version of Wi-Fi Direct to some non-Samsung devices. It might seem a small move, but it’s an important one.
Wi-Fi Direct, as the name implies, allows phones and computers to transfer files directly without the data travelling through a Wi-Fi router. It is direct communication, just like Bluetooth is, but at an accelerated transfer rate.
Samsung Quick Share offers that direct connectivity for transferring documents, video, audio and images between Samsung devices without complicated pairing, provided both devices have Quick Share active. One caveat is that the service is partly cloud based, according to reports.
Apple achieves much the same through AirDrop which uses both WiFi and Bluetooth. According to Apple, both must be turned on. You can not only directly share photos and videos, but also websites and locations. Transfers are encrypted and can take place between iPhones, iPads and MacBooks.
Apple, which prides itself on offering users a closed ecosystem, hasn’t gone the extra step of making AirDrop available to non-Apple devices. Samsung is taking that step, albeit tentatively, for transfers to non-Samsung devices.
A new version of Quick Share can run on Windows PCs produced by other companies as well as Samsung. This will be of major benefit to users with a Samsung phone and Windows desktop or laptop.
The move is tentative for now because it is restricted to computers with specific chipsets and drivers. This new version (V1.4.40) supports network cards with Intel’s Bluetooth driver version 22.50.02 and Intel’s Wi-Fi driver 22.50.07. Devices with cards from other sources such as Taiwan’s MediaTek are yet to be supported.
Samsung Quick Share
There are other options such as Google’s Nearby Share for transferring files between Android phones, tablets, Chromebooks and Windows PC, or Microsoft’s offering for quickly sharing photos, Phone Link.
