Just because you bought a new PC doesn’t mean you have to throw away the old PC. Here’s how to make the most of an older computer.

You’ve finally gone and bought a new PC. It has a boatload of memory, lots of cores, and a fast, modern graphics card. But now your old PC sits in a corner, and although you know it’s just a machine, it seems to be sulking like a puppy that missed its morning biscuit. It’s weird, but you feel guilty with the whole idea of throwing it out.

After all, it’s perfectly functional. When you first bought it, it was near state-of-the-art. If your new PC replaces one that’s really on its last legs, by all means, take it to a reputable electronics recycler. But it’s amazing how many users ditch perfectly good machines when they pick up a shiny new system.

You can do plenty of things with an old PC besides sending it to the recycling heap. Let’s take a look at a few ways you might put that old system to work.

You know what? There’s some pretty sweet gear at  CES 2011: tablets galore, smart cameras, cool phones, audiophile pr0n. Woot! This little trade show might have a future! Check out some of our favorites.

The Play Services system is the underlying Android component which all games will be able to tap into, allowing them to share a single notifications path, multiplayer gamer matching, leaderboards and achievements records, and more. Unsurprisingly, the multiplayer duties are shared with Google+, with the social network’s circles used to manage who can invite you to play a game, whose achievements you see, and who your own achievements are shared with.

Sony has reported an annual profit for the first time in five years, boosted by asset sales and a weakening yen.

Net profit was 43bn yen ($436m; £280m) in the year to 31 March, compared with a 457bn loss a year earlier.

Sony said the yen’s recent fall, which makes its goods cheaper for foreign buyers, boosted sales. A weak yen also lifts profits when firms repatriate their foreign earnings back home.

Messaging service Viber today made the leap from smartphone to desktop.

The free messaging/phone service is now available on PC and Mac computers, allowing seamless integration between mobile and desktop users.

The move comes alongside news that Viber has more than 200 million users across various platforms, including Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry. Now, Viber Desktop runs in harmony with mobile versions, completing the setup process using your existing phone number as your ID.

The consumer electronics industry has gotten pretty boring lately. That’s not to say the new products that have debuted recently are boring, but we’re definitely in a period marked by iteration. Each new smartphone closely resembles the smartphone that came before it, each new tablet is a tweak and a spec bump away from its predecessor, and Windows 8 hasn’t reinvented the PC like we had hoped. The timing couldn’t have been better for Google to shake things up with Google Glass, the curious connected eyewear that willlaunch next year. But is Glass really the next big thing or are we all just so bored that anything seems like a breath of fresh air?

The HTC One is the other major Android phone to launch in 2013.

Just because it hasn’t been ushered into the world with the same fanfare and marketing budget as the Samsung Galaxy S4 doesn’t mean it’s not just as worthy of your attention.