But now you can just wave your hand over the screen and those new IR sensors on the front of the phone will see it and show you the time and missed notifications. It’s a neat trick...
Call me crazy, but my Maxx does this now and always has. If my phone is sitting on a table with the screen off, I can wave my hand over the screen and it lights up exactly as described. Granted, I don't know if it is doing so with infrared sensors or another type of sensor, but from an end-user perspective the result is the same- I wave my hand and get my notifications. It's great for boring meetings, since I can leave my phone on the table and get the information I need with a quick wave.
Admittedly, I can't silence calls or alerts by waving, but at least I can trigger the notification screen to come on.