Gadgetory

we have an old Android phone or tablet just sitting somewhere collecting dust let's count down the top 5 ways to breathe new life into that old Android at number 5 a dedicated media player exercising with your main phone can sometimes be stressful you wouldn't want to break your phone while you're trying to get fit so why not use your older phone as a media player as an aside you can also install the jawbone up app to make your phone a fitness tracker when you're running around at number four a remote control your old Android could be the brain of a whole new world you could use your phone to drive tons of video to a chromecast some Android phones like the HTC One and a samsung galaxy s4 have built-in IR blasters so if you want to control your home theater you can do that directly some home theatre components like TVs and receivers have apps they'll let you control them over your network if you've got smart home gadgets you can load that phone up with widgets to control your lights - at number three a security camera there's no need to spend a bunch of money for a dedicated nest cam if you've got an old phone sitting around you can pick up the four dollar app called IP webcam it'll use your camera to do the rest you might also want to pick up a dock so you can mount the phone in the right spot at number two make it your assistant if you've seen the Amazon echo and thought hey that'd be cool to have but I don't know if it's worth the price you can use an old Android like an assistant to make sure your Android is always listening to you open the Google Search app then click settings choose voice then ok Google detection make sure you can access the voice feature from any screen now when the device is sitting around you can say okay Google what's the weather or okay Google play the killers on Spotify also you can load up your home screen with widgets to get all kinds of info at a glance I asked you guys would you use your older devices for here's what you had to say Nelson D says he uses his as a clock and for his chromecast Amanda says her old razor is a media streamer for her exercise room Daniel says he uses old Android phones with flash browsers at work to control 3d laser scanners great ideas thanks everyone onto number one at number one you can save the world with an Android device first download the app buuck this app can connect your phone to a large network of other computers around the world together all these machines can act in concert to become a supercomputer you can use your spare processing power to help biomedical research understand asteroids do environmental research or any number of other things by default the app only runs when your device is plugged into a charger and when the screen is off so it's not messing with your phone experience for more top fives like this visit top-5 to Netcom Amaya's act heart and we'll see you next time