Unusual uses for mobile devices


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I was randomly thinking today if anyone is using a mobile / tablet for something a bit unusual?

 

I set-up a cheap Android phone to play the on-hold music for the works phone system, it has around a 1000 MP3's from the 60's to 80's on randomize. I ended up getting a ?50 Android phone as a lot of cheap MP3 players cant charge and play music at the same time (so the reviews said). This also gave flexibility in that internet radio apps could also be used, along with allowing the device to be controlled via Wi-Fi.

 

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And for anyone who thinks Android isn't stable, this has been running 24/7 for just over a year now:

 

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Does anyone else use a mobile device for something a bit unusual? do share.

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Got an old junker XP tablet impersonating an LCD panel for one of my servers here just because I hate to throw stuff away. Nothing fancy, system monitoring, tailing the event logs, stuff like that. Fairly useless otherwise, pretty much anything current won't run on it. 

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I use my old Dell Streak 7 tablet with it's charging/media base as a clock on my nightstand. About all its good for these days.

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One thing you can use an old Android phone for is a security camera. or a spy camera, if you can hide it good. Frame rates typically suck balls, but it works.

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General Electric adapted iPhone tech as a pocket ultrasound machine. Works great, and this year they came out with one with dual sensors.

Portables have also been adapted for use as portable EKG and EEG machines, and for grabbing frames from telescope imagers.

Another use is in micro-satellites. Cell phone tech is used in the NASA PhoneSat program, with launches on the Antares and Falcon 9 rockets. These sats are about the size of a box of saltines.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhoneSat

Now commercial operators are hopping on board, and the US military is exploring the use of tiny satellite clusters instead of easily targeted large satellites.

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I set-up a cheap Android phone to play the on-hold music for the works phone system, it has around a 1000 MP3's from the 60's to 80's on randomize.

 

Thought that was illegal without license.

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And no one said the op didn't have licences for those MP3's. Many people have thousands of legal MP3's. Moving on.

 

Not for public playback .. was just asking ... no need for your sarcasm!

 

To quote from Wikipedia:

 

Copyright law

In the US, and other countries where copyright laws are practiced, authors are granted copyright protection on their musical compositions. Such copyright protection has existed since just after the turn of the 20th century and most music written prior to 1900-1910 - from impressionism back to baroque and antiquity are said to be "in the public domain." Use of any said music prior to the creation of these copyright laws may be presumed to be free for use by all - although individual titles may have been later copyrighted through a change in the composition or arrangement. The use of copyrighted music is not for free use in the public domain.

 

All music written after this period, which is copyrighted under multiple acts of congress, are owned by the author(s) or their assignees. The use of this music is protected and controlled in order that the owner may derive usage income. Specific to telephonic MOH (music-on-hold), the US laws currently protect the copyright owners from unlawful, unpermitted use of their music titles in over-the-phone broadcast. [8] Any person or business wishing to use current, popular, post 1900-1910, copyrighted music for MOH purposes may only lawfully do so by obtaining permission from the owner. Currently, performance rights societies such as ASCAP, BMI and SESAC will sell blanket permission to use music titles in their catalog for MOH purposes?for an express annual fee - calculated by size and frequency of usage. Failure to obtain this paid permission is a violation of US copyright laws.

 

This same copyright protection is also true in the rebroadcast of any radio program. As mentioned earlier, the broadcaster has been assigned a narrow and specific usage license to air copyrighted song titles. This does not include permission to any person or business to re-broadcast that program on telephonic MOH. The broadcaster may not promote such unlawful use and is not an owner who has any lawful right to grant MOH usage permission. They do not hold the ownership of the title and have no right to license use in any way. Those who plug radio broadcast into their telephone MOH without first obtaining paid permission through the owner's agents (ASCAP, BMI or SESAC) are stealing unlawful use and may be prosecuted under existing federal laws.

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Thought that was illegal without license.

It is, however we have one.

Having a legal MP3 does not imply you have license to use it as on-hold music.  I have worked in this area, it's often overlooked and leaves small companies vulnerable.

We do however have a licence, and are allowed to use the music ripped to MP3's under this licence. I half thought someone would bring this up when posting the topic.

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One thing you can use an old Android phone for is a security camera. or a spy camera, if you can hide it good. Frame rates typically suck balls, but it works.

 

What about overheating? It is not an issue?

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I would love to use an old phone for a wireless repeater for areas of my house withe weak wifi signal.  I downloaded an app that was supposed to work, but doesnt.  Apparently others have gotten things to work but I have not had much time to fiddle with it.

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I use an original Motorola Droid as a security camera at my house. It takes a snap every 1.5 seconds and saves them to my NAS

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LOL - I like the "have you tried the in-built bathroom scales app?" when someone buys an iPad :D

 

That's evil! I have to try it . . . :shifty:

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