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New Chrome Extension Uses Sound To Share URLs Between Devices

Posted by samzenpus on from the sound-of-malware dept.

itwbennett writes: Google Tone is an experimental feature that could be used to easily and instantly share browser pages, search results, videos and other pages among devices, according to Google Research. "The initial prototype used an efficient audio transmission scheme that sounded terrible, so we played it beyond the range of human hearing," researcher Alex Kauffmann and software engineer Boris Smus wrote in a post on the Google Research blog.

7 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. Sounds Hackable by pubwvj · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sounds like a way to hack a computer with audio. Even the isolated can be gotten.

  2. OMG... by qtp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They've invented the acoustic coupler!

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    Read, L
    1. Re:OMG... by QuasiSteve · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think the word 'invented' gives too much credit as is.

      They merely released an app that does what others have done before;
      http://rnd.azoft.com/mobile-ap...
      http://petapixel.com/2013/09/1...
      http://dspace.ucalgary.ca/bits...
      http://circlewithme.tumblr.com...

      But it's Google, so it gets eyeballs anew.

    2. Re:OMG... by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I think the word 'invented' gives too much credit as is.

      The fact that he used the term "acoustic coupler" should indicate that he was referring to them having "invented" something which was actually invented in the early 1960s.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A...

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      SJW n. One who posts facts.
  3. "we played it beyond the range of human hearing" by Nutria · · Score: 3, Insightful

    And dogs? Heck, cats hear even higher pitches.

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    "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
  4. three words by MrKaos · · Score: 4, Insightful

    air gap exploit

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    My ism, it's full of beliefs.
  5. Re:What about the dogs? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    Which just doesn't matter in this case, because I've never seen a smart person with one of those things. No technical person would have one. They don't make logical sense. Of course normal people don't own things that can just hurt them any time at random. So many children are killed or maimed by dogs per year. That is why smart people stay the hell away from those things. So, no. The target audience for high-tech stuff is not affected by this problem.