There's a new app in the Android Market that allows you to tap your NFC-enabled smartphone with your buddy's phone to send a Facebook friend request. It's called Add Friend, and other than the prerequisites that both you and your (soon-to-be) suitor must both have an NFC-enabled Android smartphone with the Facebook and the Add Friend apps installed, it's a relatively painless method of sending a friend request. Its also much more convenient than screaming to tell someone your digits in a loud club.
We grabbed two NFC smartphones (a Nexus S and a Galaxy S II) and tested the system out. It works essentially as advertised — after opening the app, you put both phones back-to-back and a vibration confirms that the data's been sent. One of the phones is then forwarded to your friend's page in the Facebook mobile app with the "Add Friend" button on it. Unfortunately, the system did not work when we tried using two Android 4.0 phones — Android Beam superseded the app, and even when we disabled Beam we couldn't make the friend request happen. One other thing to keep in mind is that the app will leave updates in your feed unless you tell it not to. Add Friend is available now as a free download in the Android Market.
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