Most of us have old handsets lying around at home, but these devices can be reused with the help of a few free apps. Ashutosh Desai and Savio D'Souza tell you about...MUSIC PLAYER-INTERNET JUKEBOX
One of the best uses for an old smartphone especially if it is equipped with a built in DAC or audio signal processor is as a music player. Reset the device and then install Equalizer Music Player Booster by DJiT. You can use this app to play the music (including lossless FLAC files) that you have stored on your phone.
It comes with a five-band equaliser which you can customise, or use with 10 presets based on music genres (acoustic, classical, dance, electro, flat, hip-hop, etc). The free version is supported by ads, but comes with all features.
Using your old device as a music player ensures that you don't run out of juice on your new handset in the middle of the day . And since smartphones support Bluetooth, they can also be used with wireless headphones.
Alternatively, you could also convert your old device into a jukebox for your home.Connect it to the internet via Wi-Fi and pair it wirelessly with a Bluetooth speaker.Voila! You have internet radio on demand. You can then stream music from apps such as SoundCloud, Gaana, and Saavn, and you can also access FM channels both Indian and international through apps like RadioGarden, Radio.net, India FM and Radio India.
TOY CAMERA
If your handset has a good glass lens and a quick focus mechanism, you could use it as a toy shooter for yourself or your kids. Install either DSLR Camera HD Pro by Apps Lab, DSLR Camera HD Ultra HD by Mobile Apps Corp, or DSLR Zoom Camera by Peakecorp Dev Team, and you get manual controls that let you capture photos and videos that are on a par with point-and-shoot snappers.
Regardless of which app you choose, you get `level control' and onscreen grids; a slider for zooming in or out; the option to manually adjust and lock exposure settings; and choose between auto, or ISOs ranging from 100 to 1600 for better pictures in low light and you can even select between focus modes such as auto, fixed, macro and infinity .All these apps come with photo filters, and electronic image stabilisation. You get built-in face detection, timer and burst mode, and also the option to fine-tune resolution for photos and videos.
You can also install apps such as Adobe Light Room, Cymera, and Photo Editor Lidow Sweet Cam for photo-editing, and Instagram for photo sharing. Since the handset will be devoid of a SIM, you can monitor and control what your children upload onto their social networks, and online albums via WiFi when they are at home.Together, all these apps convert your old handset into an extremely powerful camera.
COMPUTER REMOTE
Install Unified Remote (http:www.unifiedremote.com) on your Windows PCMacLinux machine and install the app on your handset.Make sure that the computer and the device are on the same Wi-Fi network. As soon as the app discovers the computer, you can start controlling it remotely .
Unified Remote comprises various remotes. For instance, there is a dedicate remote for controlling the keyboard, one for the mouse, another to browse the PC's file manager, and VLC remote lets you control video playback on the PC from a distance. This app supports over 90 programs and gives you access to 14 remotes for free. Subscribe for the full version and you can download over 40 remotes and even create your own to suit your needs.
Grassetto, GetWhatYSee,
SURVEILLANCE
A baby monitoring device or network camera can set you back by at least `5,000.
Instead, you can turn your old smartphone into a surveillance device to keep an eye on your little one while you work in another room. All you need is unobstructed view of the room you want to monitor, a stand, a working Wi-Fi internet connection and Alfred: Home Security Camera.
This app lets you view live feeds; it sends alerts when it detects movement, and allows you to switch between rear and front cameras remotely . It stores a short footage of these alerts on its servers for seven days.
Alfred let's you talk to whoever is in front of the camera. This works well when you have to monitor a baby , give instructions to kids in another room, or deter an intruder.
Set up is very simple, Alfred needs to be installed on at least two handsets. One handset functions as the “viewer“ while the old device will work in “camera“ mode. Next, log in with the same Google ID on both smartphones to link them. Now you can check in on the video feed at any time of the day . You can set up multiple “cameras“ linked to the same Google ID and view all the feeds from the “viewer“ phone. Alter natively, you can use the web browser to do the same.
The app will even help you figure what stand to use. Its 100 Poses section has a collection of user-submitted photos where anything from a standard tripod to a toilet roll and duct tape has been used to prop the old phone up.
Research
Even if your old handset has a cracked screen, a horrible camera, and a rubbish audio processor, it isn't completely useless. Install the HTC Power to Give app which lets you contribute its unused processing power to scientific, environmental and medical research projects around the world.
After you create a login within the app, you can choose the projects to which you would like to contribute. It then connects you to the world's largest mobile computing networks, which include Rosetta@home that's dedicated to the study of HIV, malaria, and cancer; World Community Grid for biomedical and environmental research; Yoyo@home for studies in maths, physics and evolution; SETI@home to seek extra terrestrial life, and SkyNet POGS that analyses images of space.
You could also install Folding@Home a tie-up between Sony and Stanford University that donates your phone's processing power to find cures for Alzheimer's, cancer and Ebola.
Once you have the apps installed, all you have to do is make sure that your phone is plugged and connected to Wi-Fi.It will automatically receive small pieces of big research to become a part of a global supercomputer.
INTERNET TV
Using your old smartphone as a photo frame is old school.
There's more fun in pushing pictures and videos to your television set. For this, you will need a Wi-Fi-enabled TV . If your set doesn't have Wi-Fi, you could use the Google Chromecast 2 dongle, which costs `3,399.
This device connects to the television via the HDMI port and can be powered by a USB port on the display . Switch to that HDMI source and follow the instructions to connect to the existing Wi-Fi network.
Install the Google Home app on your mobile and follow the instructions to link the device to the Chromecast dongle. Now, you will be able to “cast“ photos and watch videos from apps such as YouTube, Hotstar, Spuul, etc on to a bigger screen. To stream videos stored on the handset, install LocalCast.
If your TV has “Wi-Fi Direct“ then you can link your handset to the display: First, enable Wi-Fi Direct from the TV's settings menu. Next, connect to this Wi-Fi spot from the old handset. Once they are linked, you need an app like AllConnect to push your multimedia content to a larger screen.
DASHBOARD CAM
If you think your handset's camera is not good enough for photography , you could still use it as a dashcam to record videos of the road when you are driving. If anything untoward does take place, you will have evidence to back you up. Apart from a mobile app, you will also require a dashboard mount to hold the smartphone in place.These can be picked up online for as less as `200.
CamOnRoad by Smart Labs LLC records your drives and provides navigation at the same time. It uses the rear camera of your smartphone to record videos at 480p resolution and saves the clips to the phone's storage. If you register for its service, you get 2GB of cloud space for free. When in navigation mode, while recording, route directions are overlaid on the screen. At the end of the ride, you can view statistics on the distance travelled and average speed. Since these functions are battery intensive, we recommend you keep the handset plugged in to the car's charger.
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