Samsung Program Repurposes Old Phones

Samsung wants to turn old phones into home gadgets. Its evolving its Galaxy Upcycling program to make it easier to convert handsets.

The program launched in 2017 as a largely internal project where Samsung staff tried to find ways to use old phones for new purposes. This often involved taking advantage of the various sensors in a phone even if its specifications were now too low to run the latest operating systems and apps.

Baby Monitor Among New Use Ideas

At that point the project appeared to be more about creativity than solving significant problems. For example, one design used a motion sensor to detect when a pet had their head inside a food bowl, then took a photo of the pet eating and messaged it to the owner. To extend the environmentally responsible theme, the bowl was partly made from the phone's original packaging. (Source: samsung.com)

While Galaxy Upcycling has so far required physical modifications to the handset, the next stage will be to create software which users can simply add to an old phone and immediately transform it into a repurposed device.

In a demonstration video, Samsung suggested turning a phone into a crude baby monitor that could detect the sound of a child crying and then send an alert to the parent's devices. A second demonstration involved use the camera to detect light levels and switch home lighting on at dusk, the idea being to avoid leaving a pet home alone in the dark. (Source: theregister.com)

Software Updates Could Extend Device Lifespan

Samsung's logic is that this is a great way to repurpose phones which are either outdated or have suffered damage to some components (such as a cracked screen) while others remain fully functional. In turn it argues this reduces the need to use up resources producing new devices, or to deal with the often tricky recycling of phones which have many different materials closely integrated.

The program does provoke the argument that phones wouldn't be obsolete so quickly if manufacturers continued providing functionality and security updates for a longer period, with a cynical view that they avoid doing this so that people are more likely to upgrade to a new handset earlier on.

What's Your Opinion?

Is this a worthwhile project? Would you be interested in repurposing an old handset into a household gadget? Would you trust the security on such a makeshift device?