They should still be fine if they were kept room temperature and weren't exposed to the sun too much.
As for germinating them, I'm no expert, but I think they will need a period of cold temperatures to break the dormant period. I believe this is called stratification. You can either plant them outside over winter and they will come up in the spring, or put them in a fridge for about 4 weeks then plant them. I don't know how long they take to germinate as I have never tried to grow any but I have heard it can be as little as a day, although that is probably rare.

Hope this helps.