Give your old phone a new lease on life by converting it into a brainy TV
remote, a GPS navigator, or a numpad companion for your keyboard. If you’re
searching for a new GPS navigator or a touchscreen remote control, a good place
to find one is at the bottom of your desk drawer. Old smartphones, long
forgotten after being buried under a pile of debris, still pack some punch with
a decent processor, GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth--and the devices can run apps
that transform them into a new stand-alone machine. My colleague Rick Broida
looked last year at eight practical and fun uses for an old smartphone--uses
including an emergency or Wi-Fi phone, a gaming machine, a portable hard drive,
and an e-reader, among others--but here’s a look at eight other ideas to give
your old phone a new lease on life.
Stand-Alone
GPS Navigator
GPS use
can drain your battery before you reach your destination, so spare yourself the
hassle of plugging your new phone in and out every time it rings and use your
old device instead. You don’t need to keep your data contract for the old
phone; instead, just download a GPS app that stores the maps locally--like TomTom for iPhone ($60, a cost much less than a new GPS
navigator) or CoPilot for Android, iPhone, and Windows Phone 7 devices (just
$20). A generic
windshield mountgoes for around $10 on eBay, and now you won’t miss
the next turn when a phone call comes through.
Touchscreen
Remote Control
Downloadable
apps can turn that old smartphone into a handy remote for your computer, media
player, or TV. If you have a Google TV device, the Google TV remote app has a mousepad, arrows, and a range of
buttons, while the Remote app for
iPhones lets you control your Apple TV, and the keyboard comes especially handy
when you need to type. To control your TV, cable box, stereo, or Blu-ray
player, the Griffin Beacon ($70) is an infrared blaster that
turns your smartphone into universal remote by translating actions from your phone
to IR signals that other devices can understand.
Touchpad
and Keyboard Extension
The
iPhone’s glass display can make one smooth trackpad to control your computer
via Wi-Fi, with apps like TouchPad ($5).
You can also extend your keyboard functions with companions such as NumPad($4); while for Android, RemoteDroid acts as a touchscreen mouse control
with onscreen mouse buttons. Each option will also require you to download a
separate remote app on your computer, and RemoteDroid is compatible with PCs
and Macs.
Jailbreak
and Experiment
Since
your old phone is now probably out of warranty, you don’t have to worry about
tinkering with it anymore. Be brave and experiment with jailbreaking your iPhone and try cool apps that you can’t find in the App Store.
If you’re on Android, you can have a go at installing a new ROM (modified
versions of Android), whether it’s a new version of the OS, or a ROM that adds new features;
or perhaps you just want to speed things up a bit by removing the manufacturer
and carrier bloatware that comes preinstalled. If you are
feeling particularly adventurous, you can also install Android on an old iPhone.
Fancy
Desk and Alarm Clock
If your
new phone keeps you busy enough not to play with your old one, you can display
that old smartphone as a fancy nightstand clock. All you need is a simple stand
for your phone, whether you buy one like the Moviepeg or
you make your own stand. You might even find on eBay some cheap original
manufacturers’ docks for your particular smartphone brand, or go crazy with a
full-fledged nostalgia dock. Once you’ve found your
favorite dock, you just need to pick a clock app of your choice from the dozens of free and paid
options in the App Store and Google Play.
Host
and Control a Media Server
Put your
old smartphone back in the game as your home entertainment hub. With microSD
card storage prices going down, you can host your entire music library on your
phone and use an app like Twonky for Android to beam music,
photos, and videos stored on your phone or computer or from websites to a bunch
of DLNA-certified devices, including Samsung and Sony TVs, Microsoft Xbox 360,
and the PlayStation 3. You can still use older iPhones to AirPlay content to an
Apple TV box via Wi-Fi.
Dedicated
Music Player
Retire
your car CD changer and bring in your old smartphone. Fill it up with your
favorite playlists and stick it in the glove box, so you’ll have constant
access to your songs. This works particularly if your car has a USB port, so
the phone stays charged and you don’t have to take it out periodically to
recharge it. Be wary, though, of the security risks in leaving valuables in the
car, even if they are not in sight.
Messaging
Device
Not many
current Android phones come with a physical keyboard, so if you still enjoy the
QWERTY clicks, load up your old phone with your IM and e-mail apps and pick up
your messages over Wi-Fi. Any iPhone that can be updated to iOS 5 can also send
free messages to any other iOS device via iMessage without
the need of a carrier contract or additional apps--particularly useful if you
have poor cellular reception in your home. If your older phone doesn’t have a
front-facing camera, apps like Skype and Tango still
work for video calls, but the other person will see only images from the back
camera at your end.
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