What To Do With Old Cell Phones and Electronics

You’ve just upgraded to the new Android smartphone or iPhone of your dreams. Yet, that trusty smartphone that just came off contract is still hanging around. It would work fine if it had a service plan, which it does not. You don’t need it. You don’t want it any more. You wish it would just leave. But it won’t. It has nowhere else to go.

So, you keep it around and the years go by. Eventually, you open a drawer and there it is. In your surprise you just want to exclaim, “Are you still here?”

Oh, you hurt its feelings. Well, you would have if it had feelings. It’s just a chunk of inert technology now. The battery is long dead and gone. No point in trying to recharge it. This model is too old to do much of anything even if it had power. What a shame. When you think that this marvel of electronics was once worth hundreds of dollars, you start to wonder, “Could I have sold it and at least gotten some cash?”

Oh, you could have done better than that. You might have pocketed a nice crisp Benjamin if you’d spent 10 or 15 minutes online right after you made the upgrade between phones. Yep, $100 or maybe even more for a few minutes work. But noooooo. You couldn’t be bothered even trying to sell your late model working cell phone. It just seemed like too much trouble to figure out how to do it and probably a lot of grief trying to make the sale.

Well, here’s some good news for next time. There are companies that recycle old cell phones and electronics that are chafing at the bit to make you a competitive offer for your smartphone. No nonsense with trying to run an auction. No waiting for people to show up at your door and wasting your time just looking. This is all done online with no muss, no fuss, no grief.

Here’s how it works. You simply find the make and model of your device using the search box and the aptly named “Get Paid!” button. You’ll then have to check a few buttons for questions like working or not working, screen damage, water damage, broken parts, condition from like new to heavy wear, and which accessories you still have. Even if you are a little groggy this should take no more than 5 or 10 minutes. Then click the “Find Top Cash Offers” button.

You are likely to get multiple offers, because this particular operation is an aggregator for recyclers who actually make the offers and buy your phone. The advantage of using this service is that you don’t have to hunt down multiple buyers and get offers from each individually. That can take hours or more. You know those travel sites that give you multiple airline flights or hotel deals? It works something like that. It’s one stop shopping to get cash offers for your cell phone and other electronics.

Did you notice the question about screen damage? It’s not a disqualifier. Companies really will buy a cell phone with a cracked screen. So, if you have water damage, cracked screen, broken parts, or lots of apparent wear and tear on your phone, give it a try anyway. You might be surprised by how much money you can get for that piece of.... well... that unfortunate mobile device.

Say you get 5 offers for your phone from five different buyers. You can just pick the highest price immediately and click the “Get Paid” button. Or, you can choose to read the reviews about the companies you have in mind before you commit. Either way, once you’ve accepted the offer you are done for the night.

What happens next is that you’ll get a pre-paid shipping label or even a pre-paid shipping box delivered to your door. Either way, you will not have to pay to send in your device. The buyer takes care of that. Now take a few minutes and pack it up. Then drop it at the shipper next time you go out. Your work, my friend, is done.

When your equipment arrives at the buyer’s site, it will be unpacked, inspected and tested. As long as it agrees with what you described, the offer holds and you’ll get paid what you agreed to. You can have them mail a check or save the paper and get a deposit into your PayPal account. Your choice. Either way, you’ll be richer in a couple of weeks or so.

Here’s some even better news. This service also works for tablets, e-readers, game consoles, MP3 players and digital cameras as well as a wide variety of feature phones and smartphones. As you might suspect, the more valuable your device was originally and the sooner you get an offer, the more you’ll be paid. Obviously, if it’s too old there isn’t any value left. But don’t jump to the conclusion that you have nothing worth money. Gather up your items and spend some fun time online getting offers for your old cell phones and electronics right now.

Free 6-Way Desktop and Mobile Video Calls

We’ve all been on conference calls at one time or another. They’re a good way to have a discussion when the people you want in the conference can’t all come to the same place at the same time. This is audio conferencing using telephones. These days, it’s pretty much old school.

What’s better? How about video conferencing? OK, I know that when you hear video conferencing you think of big corporate meeting rooms with formal presentations. That’s how video conferencing got started, but it doesn’t have to stay that way.

The big impediment to date for anything more informal has been the high cost of video equipment and connections. No more. Now that most desktop computers, smartphones, laptops and tablets have video cameras built-in, there’s no reason you can’t have video conferences anytime you want them and on the cheap.

How cheap? How’s free sound? You say that you already do that with one on one video calls using Skype or Apple’s iChat? Oh, but can you set up a group video chat with up to 6 people on any combination of PCs, Macs, iPhones, Android smartphones and various tablets? You can now.

What’s an ooVoo? It’s a cross-platform instant messaging client that supports voice and video chat with HD or regular quality video and desktop sharing. Non-ooVoo users can be invited into the call through Web video chat. Video messages up to a minute long can be recorded and sent to other users or shared on YouTube. Large files up to 5 MB can be shared securely. Go ahead and set up a web chat room for free.

Free? Yes, the basic ooVoo service is free to download and use to your heart’s content. It’s ad supported to keep the company in business. If you want to get rid of those ads and get access to more features, there are paid versions available for both personal and business users.

What sort of extra features? On the paid plan, video calls go from 6 way to 12 way. You can send larger files up to 25 MB, record and save your video calls, record and save audio conferencing calls, store and protect recorded video calls, share your desktop and add phone participants to your video calls. Phone minutes are included with the paid plan, but not with the free version. You also get security settings and live support with the paid service.

How about ooVoo for business? Licenses are available for 1 to 10 users and above, with cost getting lower as volume goes up. There are no ads, of course, and you can include both video and audio participants. As an integrated collaboration solution, ooVoo offers a combination of instant messaging, video calls, phone calls, desktop sharing and file sharing in one application.

Cloud On The Cheap

Larger companies are working on strategic initiatives to move their in-house data centers to the cloud. The advantages are both financial and the ability to work from just about any location, fixed or mobile. But what about smaller operations? Is there any way to gain some of these advantages for the SMB?

Here’s a cloud app that you may be overlooking because it was around long before the cloud was cool. You probably don’t even think “cloud” when you hear the name. Yet, cloud it is. The application? GoToMyPC.

GoToMyPC? Isn’t that the software that lets you remotely log into your computer? Indeed it is. Think about it, though. How much difference is there philosophically between bringing up the screen from your desktop PC while you are sitting at a restaurant, and then running all the apps that are back at the office, and running those same apps from a private cloud?

In this case, you have created your own private cloud without the need to contract for Infrastructure or Software as a Service.

The idea behind GoToMyPC is that you most likely have one major computing environment but would like to be able to use it wherever you happen to be. For smaller companies that primary computer is likely a PC running Windows or a Mac running OS X. Out in the field you may be accessing that computer with a laptop, notebook, netbook or even and iPad. Yes, if you are a GoToMyPC subscriber, there’s a free app for that in the iTunes App Store.

GoToMyPC might rightly be called a remote desktop. What it does is replicate the desktop of your base computer on a remotely located computer or iPad. You see just what you would if you were sitting at your desk. You can then run applications, look up data and even transfer files back and forth between your office PC and your remote PC.

How does it do that? The answer is in downloadable software that runs on the PC you want to access. It gives screen, keyboard and mouse access to the computer that you are logged into somewhere else. All of this is done over encrypted links so that you don’t lose security just because you are operating remotely.

Since this system depends on the computer you want to access rather than some server in the data center, you’ll need to leave your office machine on in order to gain access. But, hey, if you wanted to access any other cloud application the servers powering that app would have to be up and running. Strictly speaking, there is a GoToMyPC communications server that relays encrypted data packets between host and remote computers. You know, a cloud based server.

The PC to PC version of GoToMyPC has more features than the Mac version, but both give you remote access to either a Mac or PC from a Mac, PC or iPad. GoToMyPC has the ability to let you access up to 20 computers remotely. Larger companies can get a professional or corporate version that adds more users and an administrator. A thousand users? No problem. The corporate version is just what you need.

Does this sound like something you could make good use of? Why not try it free for 30 days and then see if you can live without it anymore. If you find you can’t, it’s an affordable business and professional tool that expands the capability of the computers you already have. Get started with your 30 day free trial of GoToMyPC right now.