In a world moving more towards digital technology all around us, safety and online safety is becoming a more prominent concern. But now, even sounds aren’t safe as researchers managed to hack into smartphones using ultrasonic waves passed through a table, on which a smartphone was laying.

This was achieved by a team at Washington University St Louis. The members of the project guided ultrasonic waves to trick the voice assistant into performing various tasks. For those unaware, smartphones are capable of detecting such sounds/vibrations at frequencies inaudible to general humans. Through this, the team managed to make calls, take pictures, adjust volume and even get the passwords via text messages.

The most notable aspect of the entire process was that the device was not accessed via a common network or physical connection. Rather, it was just kept on a table. So, even keeping it on a flat surface is now a dangerous thing, including flat surfaces made out of glass, wood, and metal. The researchers achieved this by attaching a microphone and piezoelectric transducer to the bottom of the table.

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This allowed them to generate a waveform near the device to reproduce relevant signals. The software used has dubbed as the Surfing Attack software and researchers found that 15 of the 17 total smartphones are affected by this exploit. The handsets were from different brands and included Google, Motorola, Samsung, Xiaomi, and Apple models.

Thus, the researchers concluded by stating methods to protect your devices from such attacks. With the foremost solution being, using a thicker case to cover the smartphone. This makes it harder for the hack to occur in the first place. A cover like a tablecloth on the table or the flat surface also works against the hack. Turning off lock screen personal results on Android devices helps prevent this as well.

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In the near future, smartphones might just turn to ultrasound sensing technology to replace any and all physical buttons on one’s handset. The news arrives after an video on YouTube (by Gary Explains) turned the spotlight on certain technological developments in Ultrasense.

The new technology could potentially improve smartphone design and also be a step closer to the future with seamless handsets; something OEMs have been working on for years now. Unfortunately, ultrasonic technology has previously left a bad mark in the industry, looking at the in-display fingerprint scanner on Samsung’s Galaxy S10 series. However, Ultrasense aims to tackle another area altogether.

The company plans on making a simple switch that can be situated under any surface and be used similar to capacitive buttons (which are generally not compatible with most surfaces). Technically, the technology would work on glass, metals and even unconventional surfaces like leather and wood. This implies that soon smartphone manufacturers would not need to drill holes in the handset’s frame to make room for the volume rockers and power buttons.

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Furthermore, Ultrasense has claimed that its sensors can even detect the force of different levels. This would allow for unique drag-to-activate features alongside the conventional tap methods. Notably, the move to ultrasonic sensors will allow smartphone manufacturers to place additional emphasis on building durable, water and dustproof devices.

Another claim by Ultrasense points at the emerging 5G networking, which its sensors are apparently more responsive with. While Ultrasense can bring a wide array of features with the technology on smartphones, the company is also planning on including these sensors in various other IoT devices. It includes automobiles, home appliances and even enters the medical fields. Unfortunately, the company has yet to unveil this technology or its prototype, so safe to say it’s not arriving in any smartphone within 2020.

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Xiaomi’s CEO, Lei Jun has confirmed that the Mi Note 2 exists and this has led to the flood of numerous leaks about the device. We have already seen a working prototype of a flexible display smartphone from Xiaomi, alleged to be the Mi Note 2. Today, we have got some new images and renders of the Mi Note 2, this time featuring a true bezel-less display, on all the four sides. In fact, the phone looks a lot like the Sharp Aquos Crystal model which was released a few years back.

There are both, real life images as well as renders of this bezel-less smartphone. The phone is indeed without any significant borders on any side and it is possible that the display is supplied by Sharp. Because of its design, the phone looks great, however, we couldn’t find a camera on the top, which is not a practical design in this age, considering how users are obsessed with selfies.

Apart from the real life images, there are a couple of renders of the device as well. They reveal a simple yet elegant design language, with no bezels on any side, even eliminating the physical home button. However, it’s possible that the fingerprint sensor is located on the front, below the display, if it’s a Qualcomm 3D Sense Ultrasonic sensor.

This bezel-less design seems much more plausible than the flexible display design that we saw a couple of days back. Just a few minutes ago we reported that the Mi Note 2 could use curved OLED panels supplied by LG. The earlier report said that the display would be curved but this design is a lot different than what we anticipated.

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To be honest, this design looks good, but the Mi Note 2 is probably not going to feature such a bezel-less look. Something more practical would be a curved display design, similar to the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.

Since the CEO has confirmed the phone’s existence, we can expect the Mi Note 2 to release in the coming few weeks.

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