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:
- IScilloscope: $300 Kit Turns iPad, iPhone into Multitouch …
- A Level: Virtual Spirit Level for IPhone
- 5 iPhone Applications That Replace Your Tools
- Viewfinder Turns iPhone Into Photo Visualization Tool
Full story at http://feeds.wired.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/1qWpC7BmDow/
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