iDVM Turns Your iPhone Into a Multimeter

The iDVM lets you measure electricity while your boss watches the numbers from a safe distance

The iPhone is set to takeover your entire toolbox, and the latest hardware to help its march to total workshop domination is the iDVM, a digital multimeter which uses an iOS devices for its display.

The iDVM creates its own Wi-Fi hotspot to which the iPhone (or iPad) can connect. Thus you can take readings with the multimeter and have the results beamed back as long as you are in range ? about 30 yards. That?s not as useless as it sounds: not only will the iDVM log your measurements for later use, it can also call out the numbers to you in its electronic voice.

The developers have missed a trick with the free companion app, though. It looks like a real-life multimeter. This is fine for those who know how to use one, but a barrier for those who have never done so. I?m comfortable with a multimeter, digital or otherwise, but I never found the design particularly intuitive. Still, there are some things you can do that you can?t do with a regular multimeter, like view graphs of your data and export it via e-mail.

Now you can add multimeter to the iPhone oscilloscopes and spirit-levels you already have. Just don?t expect the phone to replace every tool you have. It would make a pretty poor hammer, for instance.

The iDVM will ship on June 1st for $220. The app is available now, and free.

iDVM product page [Red Fish Instruments via Oh Gizmo]

iDVM app page [iTunes]

See Also:

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/05/idvm-turns-your-iphone-into-a-multimeter/

yahoo sports gma news cabelas kentucky derby 2011 manny pacquiao