Scientists have developed a way to send data in music so smartphones can connect to public wi-fi more securely.
Sensitive password details are beamed from a loudspeaker and received though a device’s microphone rather than needing to be typed in.
Data is overlaid into a tune by making tiny, inaudible changes to notes that can be transmitted at 400 bits, or 50 letters, per second.
Simon Tanner, a researcher at the Computer Engineering and Networks Laboratory at ETH Zurich, said: “It would be handy in a hotel room since guests would get ... wi-fi without having to enter a password on their device.”
