The blockbuster Android-powered Samsung Galaxy S has apparently become the first smartphone certified for WiFi Direct usage, the device-to-device communication protocol based on 802.11 hardware.

Searching for such products on the WiFi Alliance's advanced wizard, site Zatz Not Funny discovered that the Galaxy S had just been approved on Monday, and is the only phone of eight devices on the list — most of which are components like adapter cards or reference designs. Because only one of two devices being paired over 802.11 need be WiFi Direct-certified, the four-inch-screened Galaxy should theoretically be able to transfer files with a plethora of different consumer electronics.

However, it's not clear how exactly this will work in practice: apparently any device can be made WiFi Direct-capable through a firmware update, so the issue here seems to be one of software. Specifically, the WiFi Direct host is said to broadcast its existence in the same manner as a traditional ad hoc WiFi device, but the Galaxy S (at least our Fascinate) doesn't seem to offer an option to enable the transmission. Anyone know how to get this working with existing units, or do we need a ROM update / dedicated app to tap this functionality?

Source: WiFi Alliance

Via: Zatz Not Funny