(KRON)—If you just got a new phone or tablet for the holidays and are trying to decide what to do with your now “old” device, KRON4’s Tech Reporter Gabe Slate talks about how you can repurpose that used gadget.
If you don’t sell your old phone or tablet or hand it down to the kid it likely ends up here in the junk drawer or tossed in a closet just sitting collecting dust, you can put that paperweight to use.
Here’s some ideas:
There are several apps that will turn your old phone or tablet into a free home monitoring security camera.
Camio is one Slate has used that works well.
You just place your phone in your home somewhere, have it plugged in to keep it juiced, and connected to your home Wi-Fi.
Then through the app, anytime you want you can view your live video feed on your current smartphone or through other devices.
You could leave your old device in the car to act like a dedicated GPS unit.
Free apps like MAPS.ME use offline mapping, so no Wi-Fi or cell service is needed to get you around.
It’s not as detailed and accurate as Google maps, but for basic getting around finding nearby businesses and places, it works well.
You can turn your old tablet into a high end digital photo frame. Mount it on your wall or have it sitting on your desk at work.
Most tablets will let you do this with the basic built in photo library application, but there are also apps like “Dayframe” that will automatically pull pictures from Facebook and Instagram and display those as your family and friends post them.
There are a lot of other uses out there that we didn’t show or think of.
If you are re-purposing your old device in a creative or unique way, please share it with Gabe Slate.