The Department for Culture, Media and Sport had initially set aside £180 million to help fund the changes that these households would need to make to their TVs in order for them to work as normal post-rollout.  Freeview Managing Director Ilse Howling claimed that they may in fact need up to £400 million to deal with the issues faced.

Existing 4G services already rolled out by Everything Everywhere (EE) were never going to interfere, as they operate in different frequencies and don’t disrupt TV signals.  However, with regards to the main 4G services rollout – due to commence this summer – it seems that this supposed mass hysteria was mere scaremongering.

Tests were run on 200,000 homes in the West Midlands and London by the firm “at800”, that was set up purely to tackle the predicted “issue”.  Out of these homes, at800 discovered issues with a mere 15 television sets.

So, whilst there are clearly some issues with some TVs, it is nowhere near the initial amount forecast.  Initial studies had shown that homes within 2 kilometres of a 4G base station would experience interference or loss of channels on their Freeview systems.   This was due to 4G using the 800MHz frequency band, that operates incredibly close to the one used by Freeview.

at800 is not taking the results of this initial test as concrete evidence that the interference won’t be on a wide scale.  It has instead decided to run a trial in Brighton, where the landscape is much hillier, and the Freeview and 4G transmissions are also far closer together, to see if this impacts the levels of interference at all.

Whilst some problems have already been reported in the Brighton area, it remains to be seen whether the amount of homes affected by the 4G rollout will be anywhere near the 900,000 homes nationwide that Ofcom predicted.

The Korean electronics supergiant has made the bold claim that it can deliver this new technology to consumers by the year 2020.  Apparently it is “hundreds of times” faster than the latest 4G wireless services, and will eventually allow users to download an entire movie in one second.

Tests carried out saw a transmission of over 1GB per second over a distance of 2 kilometres, using a 28GHz frequency.  In a statement, Samsung claimed that the breakthrough – once commercialised – would allow users to download data “without limitation”, including on services such as 3D movies and games, real-time streaming of ultra high-definition (UHD) movies and remote medical services.

It is believed that the Koreans were able to achieve this by using 64 antenna elements, which harnessed millimetre-wave bands – a previous sticking point for current technology.  It overcame the previous “unfavourable propagation characteristics” that prevented data travelling across long distances using these bands.

South Korea is already leagues ahead of the rest of the world in terms of its data technology.  The country already has around 20 million users of 4G services, and by far the fastest and most reliable super-fast broadband infrastructure on the planet.  Samsung itself meanwhile has become the leading mobile phone manufacturer, smashing nearest competition Apple with its range of smartphones, including the latest Galaxy S4, which harnesses eye-movement technology to control various functions.

Cellular companies in the country fear that there may be a blanket ban from 7am 11^th May to 7am 12^th May.  Mobile phones are already banned in polling stations and it is thought the policy will be extended to not just cover sensitive areas, but the whole country.

Suspension of service is likely to majorly inconvenience both consumers and service providers, with neither being compensated for loss of service.  Experts on the situation suggest that whilst the severe security problem is understandable, a blanket suspension should be the very last resort, and not the first option the authorities decide to take.

Unfortunately this means that our cheap calls service to Pakistan may be affected over this weekend, which is something regrettably beyond our control.  It is thought that services to landline numbers should be operating as normal.

The software tracks a week of usage data and tests it against the user’s emotional state.  It collects information about the location of the user, how noisy the environment is, and whom they are interacting with.

According to the app’s official website, the emotional state data is gathered through a collection of surveys and social psychology experiments.  The social scientists can define which sensor data they would like to collect and what questions are featured on the surveys, along with the conditions that determine when a survey is used (i.e. where the user is and the environment etc.).

Users will also be able to customise the app so that it only sends surveys when the user states they would be available to answer them.   Everything would be updated remotely so that experiments can be adapted and changed by the social scientists, as their study is ongoing.

An axis grid system is displayed for users to mark exactly how they are feeling at that current time on that current day.  The app will then match the mood to what they are doing – so for example it might gather that you are grumpy when getting up in the morning and starting your commute to work, or tired when you leave work at the end of the day.

The main goal of the app is for the team at Cambridge is to build a set of libraries which allow developers to build their own new apps that use sensor data gathered from smartphones, send context-based notifications, and collect survey responses.  These developers would become EPSRC Ubhave Developers.

Currently the Cambridge team is a mixture of older and younger generations all with different skills and looking to gain different things from the project.  It currently comprises of Cecilia Mascolo (Reader in Mobile Systems), Jason Rentfrow (Senior Lecturer in Social and Developmental Psychology), Neal Lathia (Research Associate), Kiran Rachuri (PhD Student, Computer Laboratory), and Mirco Musolesi (Senior Lecturer, Computer Science, University of Birmingham).

EmotionSense will come free on Android devices, and some believe it could be an important tool to complement therapy treatments. Users would have to give explicit permission for use of their data by researchers before using the app. Other versions for other smartphone platforms are currently in development to reach a much wider audience and therefore gain a more accurate picture of human emotional behaviour.

In the modern age of complete sophistication of smartphone devices, it is still baffling to many how batteries have not only failed to keep up with the pace, but have gone backwards in terms of capacity and capability.

Well the solution is finally here, and whilst not even remotely pocket-sized or ergonomic or aesthetically pleasing, it does offer a bizarre solution to the problem.

Inventor David Johansson, of massive online DIY community Instructables, has come up with a thermoelectric generator to charge your device.  Using a simple gas lamp/Bunsen burner style device with heat sink on top and a USB cable, Johansson has managed to charge a smartphone using what is known as a “Peltier element”.

A Peltier element will transfer heat from one side of an element to another when used as a cooler.  This particular device works by using the heat sink (i.e. setting it on fire with gas).  The heat then transfers from the “processor” to the other side – which is the heat sink.  When attached to a generator as Johansson has done, the heat sink is heated to a greater temperature than the processor side, which creates a voltage.  This is called the Seebeck effect.

The device that Johansson has created can be used with gas or alcohol burners, and some forms of candles, such as tea lights.  Whilst this may be a lot of science to get your head around, the device definitely does a job in those times of need, and is small enough to fit into your shoulder bag should you ever be in need of an emergency charge.

With the festival season nearly upon us in the UK, these would be hot property – that is if they were for sale.  Unsurprisingly, these devices are not available in shops or to order online.  If you want one, you will have to make it yourself, just like David did.

Thankfully though, all is not lost, as there are step-by-step instructions online.

Last week I wrote about the new function on the Samsung Galaxy S4 that tracked your eye movements, allowing you to pause videos by glancing away from the screen, and scroll up and down the page simply by moving your eyes in that general direction on the screen.

This week’s big news as we enter another new month, is that researchers at Lancaster University have created an advertising system that is capable of tracking your eye movements as you shop.

The “Sideways” project locates faces and eye movements of people in supermarkets using a camera and newly developed software.  Video screens nearby will then change adverts depending on what you look at in the shop.

Apparently the pioneering technology can track up to 14 people at once and could be in use in major UK supermarkets within the next 5 years.   Similar to the technology on the new S4 smartphone, customers would be able to scroll through items on a list just using their eyes to control the on-screen content.  Current systems only allow one user at a time and require a lengthy setup to calibrate the eye tracker to that specific user.

Lead researcher, Andreas Bulling, explains that “calibration is a major stumbling block for interactive gaze-based applications…it’s time consuming and annoying”.  With “Sideways”, no calibration is necessary, which is why it allows so many users at once.  The new video demonstrating the system shows users scrolling through lists of albums in a music shop using only their eye movements.

Whilst this development is certainly one of the hottest topics in the technological world, it does raise some concerns over privacy that these systems are tracking the behavior of customers without their consent, or necessarily their knowledge.

Bulling defends this, claiming, “If the system is only there to improve the shopping experience, customers will probably be fine with such a system”.

I guess only time will tell how shoppers react to this new presence in their retail experience.

Their latest smartphone, the Galaxy S4, is set for release later this week and offers a feature on it’s video function that allows users to pause a video simply by looking away from the screen, and use eye movements to scroll through content.

However, Samsung is looking to take this innovative technology to the next level with a fully-fledged tablet device that you can control fully simply by using your mind.

Working in conjunction with US researchers, they have demonstrated how the user can concentrate on a blinking icon in order to launch an application on a Galaxy tablet device.

The clever new technology relies on the user wearing a special cap studded with EEG-monitoring electrodes – so would hardly look aesthetically pleasing or be convenient to the user in it’s current form – but it is hoped that it can be developed into a more streamlined product in the years to come, making it an invaluable device for people with mobility issues as well as those looking for general day-to-day use.

Samsung Lead Researcher Insoo Kim proposes that using mind control for devices is naturally the “next step” in technology as users can already use voice, touch, gesture, and eye movement to control current mobile devices.

During testing it was noted that users when controlling the table using their mind, they could average around one selection every five seconds with an accuracy rate of between 80 and 95% – a promising start for technology in it’s early development phases.

Currently the cap required requires liquid between the scalp and sensor, but developer Roozbeh Jafari of the University of Texas (who is working with Samsung) is already well on his way to coming up with a new cap that is dry and also less intrusive on the user.

It is hoped the technology can also be used for groundbreaking medical solutions, particularly for gauging moods and enabling a better understanding of those in comas or with locked-in syndrome.

Whilst currently nowhere near usable by the general population, there is good feeling about the fact that technology being developed initially for commercial purposes can then double as a brilliant solution for medical practices for the general betterment of life for everyone in the developed world.

Google’s Android platform is set to reach 1 billion users by the end of the year according to Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt.  He goes on to boast that the platform could have 2 billion users “within a year or two”.

Figures show that there are currently over 750 million Android devices in use, and an additional 1.5 million activations per day.  This demonstrates that at this pace, they could easily break the 1 billion users barrier in the timescale forecast.

Schmidt predicts this growth will be down to the Asian market, where manufacturers using the Android platform – most notably Samsung and HTC – plan to launch low-cost low-end smartphones.

In stark contrast, Apple has seen its overall net income growth fall from 85% in 2011 to just 60% growth last year.  Compare this to 2004 and 2005 where it achieved 300% and 383% net income growth year-on-year respectively, then it could be said the tech giant is massively on the decline.

Whilst a bright spot for the company might be that iOS has finally overtaken Android as the main mobile platform in the USA, globally speaking it is only set to get worse for Apple, who already massively lag behind global smartphone leader Samsung.

Given the imminent launch of the low-end Android devices in Asia, and taking into consideration Apple’s massive unpopularity in the same region, the mobile device war could soon be over in every other region except the USA – if current trends are to continue.

I’ve done a bit of research and rounded up a few of the main ideas and speculation as to what people think is going to come next from the big mobile tech firms such as Samsung, Apple, Sony, BlackBerry, and HTC.

Flexible Screens 

This idea might seem farfetched, but it is very much real.   Samsung already unveiled the concept back in January at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Run using Microsoft software, the “bending” phone is said to be virtually unbreakable.  The design is a matchbox-sized box with a strip of paper-thin OLED (organic light-emitting diodes) display attached to it.

Whilst the OLED technology is already widely used across the smartphone market, this is purely through glass screens, whereas with the flexible screen Samsung have laid the chemicals over thin plastic.

Smartphone Cameras 

We all know about smartphones with built in cameras, but what about cameras with built in smartphones?  This seems to be another major step in the future of mobile tech.

In 2012, the much-forgotten Nokia hit back released the 808 Pureview, a 41-megapixel camera with a built in smartphone.  Samsung then released the Galaxy Camera, which although only boasted a 16.3 megapixel camera, contained a far superior built in smartphone.

Take into account that the iPhone 5 has an 8-megapixel camera, and you can see the potential for massive innovation and improvements in the concept of having a camera on your phone – or indeed a phone on your camera.  We should be able to expect more megapixels, improved sensors, flashlights, shutter speeds and other futuristic developments.

Phone Watches 

This one might seem more realistic for a James Bond film, but it seems phone technology is making its way on to your wristwatches.

There’s already a range of watches that offer technology to alert users to calls and texts on their smartphone.  These include a variety of colourful names such as Pebble, Metawatch Strata, Cookoo and Motorola Motoactv.

These phones wirelessly connect to your smartphone device, allowing you to view your calendar, contacts, receive notifications of texts or calls (even Twitter and Facebook notifications too), play games and skip songs on your music player, amongst other things.

Whilst the technology is not yet available to actually answer and make calls through these wristwatches, there is much speculation that Apple already have a deal in place with Pebble to make the first ever smartphone watch – that will be able to have the full functionality of an actual phone.

Other improvements 

Whilst these new gadgets might seem quite appealing, a lot of smartphone users are simply after improvements to their phone’s functionality – i.e. battery life, processing speed, resolutions, data speeds, and keeping costs down.

It would seem to keep everyone happy, mobile phone manufacturers will have to tread a careful balance between adding the latest gadgets to their new phones whilst improving the core way in which the phone works on a day-to-day basis.

This faster service will initially be rolled out in 10 major cities where 4G has already been introduced, whilst the nationwide rollout of the initial service continues.  The higher speeds will soon be available London, Cardiff, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Bristol and Sheffield.

EE remains the sole provider of 4G services in the UK, but other providers are set to launch their services following the 4G spectrum auction earlier this year in February.

Rumours surrounding weak demand for 4G services persist, with some experts warning that faster browsing could lead to bills soaring, which will put off further potential customers.  EE however claims that there has been a “huge shift” in the way people are using their mobile phones.  It is currently aiming to have 1 million users on 4G by the end of 2013, and expects mobile data demand to grow by up to 750% by 2016.

Ernest Doku of uSwitch does concede that doubling the speed of 4G could “cushion the blow” of the extra financial outlay EE customers have to make for 4G services.  Speeds could reach up to 7 times those possible with 3G although he does echo the sentiment that faster browsing could encourage customers to use mobile browsing far more often to send their data bills sky high.

Rivals 3 (Hutchison) have offered their new 4G service (launched Autumn 2013) at the same price as their existing 3G services, which is likely to attract swathes of new customers, and drive market prices down.   No price plans are currently forthcoming from the other winners of the 4G spectrum auction – Telefonica o2, Vodafone and Niche Spectrum (BT).