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Old devices make great XBMC or Roku remotes. They can also be used as MP3 players with Subsonic, Pandora, Google Music, etc.

My Galaxy Nexus is currently the bathroom gaming console(s).

I've used my older phone to make a wifi webcam.

Dashcam?

I use my HTC Magic as a space taker in my drawer. It sits there and I just check from time to time that it takes enough space in there.

More seriously, I used to think I could convert an old Android smartphone in a music player but having tried a few times with the HTC Magic and an Xperia Mini (very small and light), I can tell you than nothing beats a SansaClip with Rockbox. Its tiny, light, cheap, has a massive battery and with physical buttons which is great for using it without looking. Turning a smartphone into a MP3 player sounds like a great idea but really isn't.

I usually wipe clean every device I don't need anymore, install whatever newest and lightest custom ROM is currently available for that model and leave it in poorer "district" of my city near places where poor kids hang out.

There's always a sticky note saying something along the lines "My old owner left me for a newer model, because I'm too slow. I'm worth next to nothing and can't play newest games, but I can browse Internet and do many other things. Please take care about me or find someone who could use me. Thanks and bless you." + sad face.

In case of phones I added fresh prepaid sim card. There's also a charger and, if possible, earphones. To this day I released a few tablets, "smart"phones and such. I don't know what happened to them, but I'm 99% sure that I saw some kid using what looked like one of my 7'' tablets a few months ago.

I know, I know, cheesy, cliche but hey, that's me.

Edit: Guys, this comment was gold awarded but I don't think it should be. This whole "liberation" of stuff isn't something very demanding, and I usually have craploads of fun doing it, so it's not that big deal. Still, thanks to whoever did that!

My Nexus 7 (2012) is sitting in the charging dock having been re-purposed as a digital picture frame.

App testing.

I can always ask friends to try stuff out, buy they usually have recent/popular models which don't tend to present many problems.

I hang on to the following phones that are past their prime:

iClone running Ice Cream Sandwich, 4" screen (no GPS or 3G)
Optimus 2X running MIUI, 4" screen (cracked screen)
An Alcatel running Gingerbread, 3.5" screen (got it free with carrier credit)

There's also an iPhone 3GS which is good to check websites for compatibility.

You can use it as a baby monitor or as a portable way to check out CCTV cameras. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sleekbit.dormi&hl=en

You could also use it as a mini chrome cast if it has video out and use something like AllCast or cheap cast.

Also Spotify allows you to control other devices running spottily so you could hook it up to a set of speakers and just control what song is playing from your phone.

porn.

I have an old HTC Sensation whose charging port went out on me and was unable to be repaired by my local repair shop. It could have easily been set aside as a paper weight, but I didn't see it that way. I hardwired it to an appropriate power supply and installed a bare bones CM10 ROM. It's now a permanent Chromecast remote for my living room.

I throw them in the "I think I'll need this" bin. And there they go to die.

You can turn it into a PirateBox

http://piratebox.cc/android

edit:

PirateBox is a DIY anonymous offline file-sharing and communications system built with free software and inexpensive off-the-shelf hardware.

Got an old Dell Streak 5 here, using the giant screen as a living room clock now.

It's surprisingly effective, just leave it plugged into a USB port near by and BAM, expensive clock.

My old L3 has saved me from dogs couple of times. I just throw it after them

Vibrator.

anyone ever successfully hooked an old phone up to a hard drive for a NAS setup? i have a router with a USB port for NAS but it for some reason fails to index the entire drive. It's not a big deal but i have a few old drives i would like to setup with old hardware gathering dust.

POKEMON!http://i.imgur.com/yFzcCnk.jpg

Gave mine to my kids so they could watch netflix and plex and leave my phone alone.

Nexus 7 (2012) sits on a piano as a pdf reader for sheet music. Flipping pages is faster!

Build a quadcopter around it.

I have a Pantech Burst which I put Paranoid Android on and the most basic of apps (mainly Google Play) and I have an app called Perk TV which allows you to view videos and than you earn points which can be used to redeem gift cards. I have it connected to my work Wi-Fi so it cycles these videos throughout the work day. Every 4 hours a pop-up comes up to verify I am still watching. At this rate I get a $5 Amazon gift card every two weeks which equates to about a $130 per year. Not much put I don't really pay anything to get it.

My Galaxy Nexus is mounted in my car and I use Tasker profiles to automate a tethering connection to my phone and to connect to my car via bluetooth. I use the device as an MP3 player in the car or playing music through Google Music or Pandora, Google Maps (navigation) and ODB2 with Torque. On long trips I've even used it to play some movies that I've seen a million times that I don't really have to pay attention to much like Office Space, Forrest Gump, The Big Lebowski, etc.

I have an old Galaxy S4 that I use as a portable media centre. 1080p output over HDMI, MicroSD card and a monster battery. Torrents go straight to it via wifi, it has Netflix and countless other media and music apps.

That thing can go for ten hours playing videos through any TV be that hotel, a party, work, wherever.

I use my Nexus S as a podcast player at the gym or when I run. I don't want to sweat all over my pretty Nexus 5 and fry it.

I have a SGSII and I am using it still... Other wise I would maybe make it my emulator player with DS3

Plug a OTG cable and an external hard drive into it and Plonk a large SD card in it and use it as a seedbox that you can add torrents to remotely

aka an Android Torrent Server

Messy, but works.

One I use as a microscope, the other is a spectroscope so I can check the temperature of the stove without getting up

I use my old Motorola triumph as a permanent alarm clock in the bedroom. I put the latest cyanogenmod (9 maybe) that I could get on there at the time. It put me into Android 4 territory in the Google Play Store, which let my wife choose from a bunch of alarm clocks until she found the one she likes best. It's also great for checking for school closings (snow), receiving emergency storm warnings, and playing mood music when the massage table comes out (not really convenient as a general music player though).

Use it as a chromecast remote for plex, netflix etc.

Arduinos have very low memory and not much processing power, so when they're doing something like controlling LED strips it's customary to have something like a Raspberry Pi doing the image processing and then the Arduino just renders the pixels. This post makes me wonder if an Android would be just as good for that role?

Edit: Or just use an IOIO board to connect to hardware without the Arduino go-between.

I have had many jobsite/construction radios that are inadequate or just don't last. I'm going to build a rolling 18" x 18" x 3' tall audio station from plywood. I have wheels from a golf caddy, a 120volt a/c to 12v d/c converter from a motor home, a 8" subwoofer, a couple of amps and some full range speakers (all car audio stuff). The power supply will go in the bottom, the the sub on top of that, then amps the full range speakers with a fan to move some air through. I'm looking for a way to put a clear cover over my Galaxy SIII that will be used a a head unit. Cant wait to start this project.

I use an old mobile phone as a WiFi repeater to extend the coverage of my home WiFi