Wi-Fi Direct: A bit of History!
One of the first and most widespread solution was Bluetooth, which has been around since 1998. Bluetooth is awesome for connecting peripherals to a computer or using a wireless headset, as these don't require fast data transfers. Bluetooth is not a fast technology and setting it up is not hassle-free either. But, WiFi my friend, is something very fast. It is much easier to configure. This is why WiFi Direct was invented. It is a technology for fast, wireless transfer of files between devices, and thanks to the much easier configuration, it can also be used for connecting basically anything wirelessly.
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| Wi-Fi Direct |
The first big company to support WiFi Direct was Intel on their Centrino platform in 2008. Then 2 years later, other big players of the networking industry followed as Marvel, Realtek, Ralink, Broadcom etc. all launched their first product in October 2010. There could be some chances that you're PC's WiFi card is made by one of these manufacturers. The internet giant Google introduced the WiFi Direct support exactly a year later in it's Android Version 4.0. The first Xbox to support it is the Xbox One(2013). Windows supports this standard since Windows 8 on PC, while Windows Phone doesn't have offical support for it yet. Although there are some apps that enable file sharing over WiFi without the need for a third device.
How does WiFi Direct Work?
The main ideas when developing the WiFi Direct standard were quite simple, make it easy to setup, have it support all kinds of services and make it faster than the Buggati Veyron itself. The second and third are self-explanatory,"regular" WiFi, so it doesn't have any drawbacks. It's working is simple too: it discovers the WiFi connection itself. You just have to input the password and voilà, you're connected. No hassles of visibility and numeric codes and pairing.
Essentially when you connect two devices vià WiFi Direct, one of them creates an Access Point similar to a router and other devices connects it. You don't have to do it manually(you don't need to stress your brain which is already filled up with other wonders of the world :P) it's all automatic(kudos!) 
Oh, and about those hectic passwords, you can just forget them because the WiFi Direct is reliable on the WiFi Protected Setup (WPS) which is a very safe way to connect any two devices vîà WiFi. Just like the modern routers, you just need to enter a number displayed on screen or press a button and the devices are connected just like that! ;) 
Mi Drop
Now comes our very own MIUI feature which is based on the WiFi Direct concept. The Mi Drop. It works just like WiFi Direct or you can say it is much similar to the Bluetooth concept, but at a very high transfer speed. It transfers files in very less time and with a very fast speed. It doesn't matter if the file size is too large or if there are a lot of itmes/files to be transferred. The spped still remains superfast. This service can be used only in the MIUI supported devices. Below are the steps and some pictures on how to use the Mi Drop.
- Just pull down the notification shade and select the Mi Drop toggle to turn it on.
- Now open the file explorer and navigate to the file which you want to share.
- Hold the file which you wanna share, a box will appear with different sharing methods.
- Tap on the Mi Drop toggle. Make sure the reciever also has turned Mi Drop on.
- A new window will open with the to-be shared items and list of devices which have turned on the Mi Drop.
- Select the desired device from the list.
- The reciever should accept the transfer message which will appear on the reciever's device.
- The moment reciever accepts the request, tha transfer will take place and BAM!! The files will be transferred in only a few seconds.
Conclusion!!
With it's simple and easy setup, higher transfer speeds, WiFI Direct is much better than Bluetooth for wireless transfers. Setup and it's range is also a good merit of this technology. Some analysts even predict that with the rise of WiFi Direct, Bluetooth has almost died, which is reasonable guys as it eliminates the need of other alternatives.