Be not afraid. Embrace your features, love their capabilities and learn to ride the “what’s in it for me” wave.

Rumour has it that we’re only just scratching the surface of what the designers of consumer electronics are able to deliver. Regardless of what they come up with, however, we need to realize that the one major downside when it comes to living with our devices is confusion and fear of the unknown.

The more our tech toys are capable of doing, the more overwhelmed some of us get. Sadly, like with our brains, the result is that we end up using only about 10 per cent of what our smartphones, tablets and televisions can do.

Instead of giving up, stick with it as I guide you through a few of the lesser-known features to help you reap more rewards and get better value out of your investments.

Smartphones
Make a mobile hotspot: Regardless of the phone you have and the carrier you’re with, you can enable the “personal hotspot” feature of your phone and use it to help other Wi-Fi-enabled devices get online, virtually anywhere. For example, if you have a laptop, tablet or ebook reader with you and you want online connectivity, simply enable your phone’s hotspot feature and wirelessly connect your second device. No need to hunt for a Wi-Fi network at a coffee shop. Just be aware that this counts toward your phone’s monthly data allowance.

Create a nanny-cam: Have an old smartphone lying around? Turn it into a wireless surveillance camera with the help of a free app called Presence by People Power. Once downloaded and installed, simply launch the app and place the rear-facing camera somewhere in your home—perhaps serving as a baby monitor, nanny-cam or a way to keep an eye on your pets while you’re at work. Now, wherever life takes you, open the same app on your main phone or tablet to see what’s happening in real time at home. Alternatively, you can set up Presence to send you video alerts whenever it senses movement. Or have face-to-face, two-way audio and video conversations with whoever is at home.

It’s a scanner, too: Naturally, you don’t carry a flatbed scanner with you to digitize documents, receipts, business cards or hand-written notes and sketches. But many apps can turn your device into a powerful—and portable—scanner to accomplish these kinds of tasks. Some apps, such as Prizmo (for iOS) or Handy Scanner (Android), have “optical character recognition” (OCR), which makes the text editable and searchable with very good (though not perfect) accuracy. Prizmo can detect words in more than 40 languages (10 are built-in), plus with optional in-app purchases you can have the app speak the text to you in one of many languages.

Control your home theatre:
Many smartphones now have an integrated infrared sensor that lets you use your device to control your tele-vision, cable or satellite box, DVD or Blu-ray player, and more. Most phones and tablets that offer this con-venient feature have an integrated “TV Remote” app to launch, but there are also lots of free third-party apps that do the same thing. Most require a one-time setup process that walks you through each component to ensure it can communicate with them. Now you can get rid of the clutter on your coffee table by putting all the remotes away and using a phone or tablet as a universal remote to control the action.

Accept credit card purchases: Run a small business and don’t want to purchase a credit card machine? Apps such as Square let you accept credit card payments on your Android or iPhone. Once you have signed up you’ll receive a small, white, free dongle that attaches to your phone to accept credit card swipes. The app is also free, but you’ll pay 2.75 per cent per swipe with no additional fees or next-day deposits. As a user, you’ll receive an email immediately after each swipe, should you want to print out the receipt for your records.

Tablets
Access your home computer: All internet-connected tablets are capable of logging into your home computer and letting you control the experience as if you were sitting in front of your PC or Mac. Whether you left an important document on your desktop before going on a business trip or want to stream a movie residing on your hard drive, you can use free apps to log in securely and move the mouse via your fingertips. Personally, I’m a fan of Splashtop Remote Desktop for the iPad, which also lets you access your computer’s web browser to surf sites with Flash—something that’s not as easy on iOS devices.

Use it as a second monitor: Ever wish you had more real estate on your computer monitor? There’s an app for that. Avatron Software’s Air Display turns your iPad or Android tablet into a wireless display for your Windows PC or Mac, allowing you to extend or mirror your computer screen. Simply prop up your tablet to the right or left of your computer monitor—be it a desktop or laptop—and your mouse will smoothly scroll between the two screens as if it were a dual-monitor setup. For example, you might open up your Outlook email and drag the window over to your iPad so you can surf the web full-screen on your computer while keeping an eye on your inbox. Or in Adobe’s Photoshop, you might have your computer screen as the canvas and the tablet screen reserved for your palette.

Use it as a phone: While you probably carry your smartphone with you, it might be cheaper to use a free VoIP service on your tablet to make long-distance calls. Yes, you can use your tablet to make phone calls with free apps such as magicJack, netTALK, Viber, GrooVe and Zenitalk. On a recent trip to New Zealand, I had my iPad connected to the hotel’s free Wi-Fi by the pool and was able to make free calls to any North American landline or mobile number (Skype, on the other hand, only makes free calls to other Skype accounts). It might also make more sense to use a tablet rather than your phone when on a conference call, so you can see all the names and faces of the people on the line.

Print wirelessly to non-wireless printers: There are two problems with printing wirelessly from an iPad: you need an AirPrint-compatible printer and you don’t have any print preview options. A new app called Printer Pro from Readdle addresses both of these issues. The app lets you print attachments, documents, web pages and more—right from your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch—to any Wi-Fi or USB printer connected to your PC or Mac. So even if your printer isn’t wireless, you can still print wirelessly to it. If you don’t have a compatible wireless printer then you’ll be prompted to install a small free app on your personal computer.

Access Microsoft Office files: One competitive advantage to Windows 8-powered tablets is support for Microsoft Office files such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. If you have an Android tablet or iPad, though, you still can view and edit these documents with apps such as Kingsoft Office, Files App or Documents Free. These assorted apps support dozens of business and entertainment files—from .avi to .zip, if you will—and their graphical interface makes it easy to find what you’re looking for. Popular files include the aforementioned Word, Excel and PowerPoint; as well as Apple files (Pages, Numbers and Keynote), .txt and .rtf; and Adobe’s PDF documents. There is also support for a wide range of photo, music and video files. You can even open saved websites (e.g., html), compressed .zip packages, .csv files and more.

Televisions
They’re Skype-enabled: Why video chat with friends and family around a small laptop when you can sit comfortably on your favourite couch? Many of today’s “Smart TVs”—a phrase used for internet-connected televisions that give you online apps and services—ship with a camera or support an external webcam (plugged into an available USB port). These cameras offer a wider view than a computer’s cam and a more sensitive microphone, letting you fit more people into the same video chat. Given how wonderfully multicultural Canada is, Skype is a very popular, affordable and enriching way to stay in touch with those who matter around the globe.

They’re more energy-conscious: Although Halloween has come and gone, you might still have vampires lurking about your home especially if you love your gadgets. Many of our consumer electronics products that are plugged into electrical sockets (an average of 40 items per household) “suck” electricity, even when not in use. A television can still consume more than 30 per cent of its full power when switched off. Some of today’s models have a “zero watt” kill-switch so they won’t consume electricity when not in use (keep your PVR plugged in, though, so it can record your favourite shows). Other televisions, such as the Samsung F8000, will know when they are not being viewed—via a built-in camera—and will ask in a human-like voice if you would like them to shut down; simply yell “yes” from the kitchen and they will power down.

Phone/tablet mirroring: A good number of today’s Smart TVs can display content from your smartphone or tablet. In many cases, you can push media from your device to the big screen in real time using technology such as DLNA or Intel’s WiDi (“Wireless Display”). Some televisions even support screen mirroring, where whatever you do with your fingers on a compatible phone or tablet—such as web browsing, ebook reading or playing games—is shown on the television screen. An add-on product such as Apple TV also lets you do this with iOS devices including iPads, iPhones and iPod touches. Samsung’s new OLED TV goes one step further with “Multi View” technology: Two people can watch two different things on the same television screen at the same time, while wearing 3D glasses with built-in earbuds.

Marc Saltzman is a recognized expert in computers, consumer electronics, video gaming and internet trends. You can see him on CNN, CTV’s Canada AM and in Cineplex movie-theatre screens across Canada. Follow him on Twitter @marc_saltzman.

Photos: Sony, Squareup, Apple, Samsung