Great Hacks for Your Old Phone

Modify your ageing device to perform a completely new function

When it’s time to upgrade to a new phone, your old device is often soon forgotten about. Although it may have an inferior OS update, average power and mediocre features, there’s still a wide range of things you can do with it.

The hackable nature of the Android operating system means that the devices that run it can be heavily customised and modified to perform a variety of different tasks and functions.

Their Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities can also be tinkered with to perform different functions, and you’ll be surprised with what can be achieved if you no longer want to use your ageing phone as an actual phone anymore. In this project we’ll be exploring some of the more interesting and useful ways you can implement new functions into your old Android devices, and best of all, they can all be performed with minimal spend.

Use your phone as a VoIP webcam

By using your device’s camera you can modify it to become a fully functional VoIP webcam…

With apps like Skype, Viper and Tango all being great ways of saving money on calls and texts, why not take it one step further and use your phone as a traditional VoIP webcam. By following this simple tutorial you’ll be able to connect your computer to your smartphone via Wi-Fi and begin video chats in no time at all.

1 Download DroidCam

Download DroidCam on your devices. Open on the computer and choose to connect via Wi-Fi.

2 Input IP address

You’ll now need to enter the matching IP address of your phone directly to the desktop software.

3 Connect the devices

Once connected, open up the DroidCam desktop software and select Stream video and audio.

4 Use VoIP client

Use Skype to start a video call. Head to its settings and select DroidCam as the primary source.

Create your own independent email server

Put together your own email server and take it wherever you go

An old Android phone tends to be small and generally low powered, so a great use for it is turning it into a portable email server. By using the Servers Ultimate app you can create a personal email account server, and manage it in the palm of your hand. The servers can be started and stopped whenever you aren’t using them, and even better, your old phone doesn’t need to be rooted for it to work properly. If email servers aren’t your thing, you can even create a DLNA server within the app. Old phones are usually no longer under contract, one best way to get them connected again is to consider SIM-only, 3 SIM only deals offer unlimited internet with flexible monthly contracts.

1 Download the Servers Ultimate app from the Google Play store and select the Email Server option from the list of choices. Now enter the server name, and add the necessary port details when required. Press Confirm once this is completed.

2 Select the Domains option from the top toolbar and add all information as and when needed. If you get stuck here, use the app’s help function. Scroll across once more to the Users category and add your own email details when instructed.

3 Your smartphone will now run as an independent email server, and acts as a gateway from where emails can be sent and received. If you have problems with the various ports, this forum thread over at XDA Forums is helpful.

Create an AirPlay streamer

By connecting to your iTunes accountover AirPlay, you’ll be able to stream youriOS music collection through your phone

1 Open up iTunes and navigate to your music. Download the AirBubble app from the Play store and install it on your device. Once enabled, the app automatically connects to your iTunes account if in close proximity.

2 Begin playing music through iTunes, but choose your listed phone as the audio receiver (usually listed on the menu on the left of the software). If done correctly the music will now begin playing through your device.

Turn your phone into a portable hard drive

Transfer and store the various documents and media files stored on your device without spending anything

If you’ve got a device with an expandable memory slot, you can simply swap and change your micro SD card when you wish, enabling you to store a multitude of files, and access them on your device. By using the USB Tethering function on your phone, you can then instantly connect it to your desktop computer and move the various files around.

1 Insert SD card

Insert a brand new SD card in to the expandable memory slot on your device. Find a media fi le on your phone, and choose to transfer it to your SD card. After a few seconds it’ll be ready to transfer across.

2 Connect to desktop

Connect a micro USB cable to both your phone and desktop computer. From the menu that appears on your device, select the Mass Storage option, and then enable USB storage.

3 Find the E: drive

Your phone will be listed as the E: drive on your computer, usually named SD card, or the type of device you’re using. Double-click on the E: drive icon to access it.

4 Start transferring

You’re now free to transfer files to and from your phone and computer at will. Do this to transfer files between home and work, or simply use it to access your cloud storage.

BlackBerry released the BlackBerry Curve 9360 deals to a reasonable amount of acclaim having had a successful launch of the new Torch and the Bold models. The new Curve model generated enough interest due to the fact it was a device that would encompass many of the premium BlackBerry’s improvements though would be a lower price device.

The BlackBerry 9360 looks nearly as good as many of the premium level BlackBerry phones and is a attractive device with mixture of nice plastics and chromes. It also feels very nice and the new QWERTY keyboard is specifically a very nice point on the phone. The buttons feel strong and react at an easy touch, yet feel solid and give a sense of joy in their pressing and when typing fast.

BlackBerry has added a 2.44inch screen to the front of the phone and we must say it looks quite good and is a huge improvement on the previous screens of the Curve phones. The resolution is 480x320p and we can say it is certainly an improvement, though is not a patch on many of the more impressive Android screens on offer.

The phone comes with a fairly capable 800MHz chip underneath its skin and so is capable of processing a decent amount of information and also of multitasking and most apps. This is also a leap and a huge plus for BlackBerry fans, who now have a device that is also most as fast as many of the best mid range Android phones.

BlackBerry’s new OS the OS7 is another positive for an owner of the device and it is another jump at Android, making its mark on the phone and certainly is a positive. The addition of a new camera in the form of a 5mp shooter that is capable of taking 720p footage is also a plus and we must say we think it is one of the best in the market.

The device offers good internet connection and though the phone is not a touch screen one the optical tracker pad is quite good and you should have no problems with browsing or any other things they will need to move around the screen for.

The device is a pretty one, which is also more than capable due to its increase in processing power. Add to this some street credibility and BBM messaging and you are sure to have one mobile phone deal that is going to be popular.

Current state of Communications in Mexico

Mexico is a fast developing nation. Mexico’s communication network is one of the most advanced and extensive in Latin America. Though, landlines will never reach the penetration levels like in USA or Europe, mobile telephony has flourished in Mexico and is now very popular means of communication.

Mexico has a whole range of telephone services – reliable landline telephone services, GSM, 3G mobile technology and high-speed internet (ADSL) services.

One of the mobile heavyweights in Mexico is Telmex which has almost a vice like grip. This monopoly means that telephone charges are higher by U.S. standards. Telmex’s clout has ensured that no other significant companies have been able to make any sort of dent in the market.

In recent years, with advent of newer technologies like VoIP, people have started using Skype and similar services to bring down long distance costs.

To the credit of Telmex, their network is quite extensive. Most of the country is covered and you will not face difficulty in communication. Telmex has brought new technologies, like high-speed internet etc.

This is a guest post by MexicoSummer.com – a comprehensive resource for Mexico real estate and Mexico Hotels

In virtually every aspect of business forward planning is vital to the success of a company and its all round proficiency. Corporations who don’t have a forward plan in position can regularly find the business production slowing, or even pausing entirely, if an unforeseen scenario transpires. This can commonly trigger lost custom and lost revenue which could have a critical impact on the business all round. The truth of this shines especially bright when contemplating the importance of telecommunications to the present day business. Forward planning can provide firms with an advantage that allows them to be resilient to what would usually be devastating situations.

There are telephone systems for small business which have been designed specifically to the requirements of the small business. By selecting a system which is best suited to the company, the business can make sure that the phone system is able to expand with the needs of the business. Without such adaptability a business can be seriously constrained in its telecoms capacity at a later stage when the organisation has grown considerably. In order to ensure that their is absolutely no need to modify a telephone system in future years, it’s important that a young company chooses the most adaptable and expandable telephone systems for small business available. To make sure that systems that can grow with a firm instead of restrict it are in place, a business should ensure that proper forward planning is in position.

Business continuity planning is furthermore, a crucial component when it comes to telecommunications. Business continuity planning ensures that regular business procedures can carry on in the aftermath of a crisis whether specific to the business, regional or even national. Such disasters might include natural disasters such as fires, earthquakes and hurricanes or even man made disasters like war, severe crime or riots. But, business continuity planning can guarantee that the company can proceed to operate at the greatest possible capacity, regardless of the dilemma or crisis. Business continuity planning makes sure that telecommunications are still going to be available in the event of an emergency. Granted now and again this will not be possible, but this forward planning can prevent interruption as much as possible. Also, such planning will ensure that added capacity is obtainable if this would be required in the event of a local, regional or national emergency.

Although forward planning is vital to every aspect of a business, preparing in advance for events whether expected or unprecedented in the area of telecommunications is critical to businesses survivability. Whether such a minute issue as planning for the expansion of a phone system, or for the possibility of a great natural disaster, business continuity planning will ensure that practices are in place to handle every unprecedented scenario. Forward planning permits every negative situation to be handled quickly and efficiently, so that normal operations can continue as soon as possible.

The iPhone 3GS, released in the summer of 2009, is one of the most anticipated mobile phones ever released and at the time, probably the most remarkable. This phone could do almost everything you could expect for a mobile phone and in terms of applications, operating system and the technology used to make up features such as the ultra sharp display there were few rivals.

A year later though this seemed to be a problem for the iPhone’s creator Apple as they would have to pull something really special out of the bag to match or better the triumphs of the 3GS. What they did pull out of the bag was the imaginatively titled iPhone 4, a phone that managed to live up to its billing and more so, breaking all of the records that it’ predecessor had set the year before.

The phone looks absolutely fantastic, as you would expect from Apple’s award winning design department. The curved back of the 3GS is gone, making the iPhone even slimmer than it was before at just 0.37 inches, the slimmest smart phone on the market. The antennae is placed inside an “uninsulated steel frame” that is reportedly 4 times stronger than normal stainless steel, so it should prove extremely durable.

Keeping up the idea of using the best possible technology to make up the phone’s components, the phones screen is located between two sheets of aluminosilicate glass which is apparently what is used for the windscreens of the best helicopters and high speed trains, so you needn’t worry about your phone travelling at high speed or in high altitudes, phew!

The phone also has a very accomplished camera, something that is extremely important to many people when deciding on a phone and with the huge amount of great editing software that you can download from the iTunes app store it means that snapping away on the 5 megapixel camera is just the very start of your photographic adventure. This and many more reasons is just why the iPhone4 should be remembered as a more than worthy successor to the 3GS. Head over to phones4u today to see all the latest cheap mobile phones, visit the site now