We are going to leave the identity of this competition prize a secret until we announce the winner, but today we want to know if and how you have used your smartphone or mobile devices as part of any DIY or construction project.
For example have you used your phone as a spirit level or to calculate how long a length of cable you need to cut?
The following is one example (from a previous blog post comment) of how long time customer Mike Paterson used his tech in this way.
Create a Video Message ~ with a bit of a difference!
I will first take you on a story……
A few months back I was in our garage which is detached a good 30 feet from our house.At the time I was working in the attic space above the garage and found a need to contact my wife to first ask a question then pick up some tools I needed. Unfortunately at the time she was out of earshot sat watching TV in the main lounge of the house and a telephone call to her would not be suffice to explain what I needed to ask nor what tools to pick up for me.
The trouble was I was in an awkward spot and if I came out of the attic and descended into the garage followed by a walk around the garden, kick off shoes etc. etc. then make my way to where my wife was sat and then go and pick up my tools from a different place outside the house it would be time consuming but worse I did not really want to leave the attic space as it was unsafe to leave the electrics I was working on.After a brief minute I hit upon an idea….. I picked up my Samsung Galaxy SIII, put it into video mode and made a short video explaining both by voice and video exactly what I wanted my wife to do for me.
After creating and saving the video I then tapped at the top of the video screen the icon of a TV. This sent the video immediately to the TV my wife was watching.In other words the program she was watching was then automatically interrupted by my face and video being shown on the TV.
The look on my wife’s face when she came out to me a few minutes later with the appropriate tools in hand was priceless.
We think you will agree that this is a great method. Mike, we shall enter you into the competition.
How to enter:
Simply let us know how you have used your phone or mobile devices in DIY or construction projects. Comment below or share it on social networking sites. The competition is open until 12PM (GMT) on Thursday 29th November.
Do not forget that on Friday at 5PM we will be closing our grand prize draw. CLICK HERE to be in with a chance of winning.
About Clove
That’s a bit of a long way round to get your missus to put the dinner on!
If only Calvin…… if only!
Mike
What a lovely surprise……
Good Luck to all who participate.
Mike
I’ve used my One S as a spacer guide when putting the board onto the back units of a cupboard. Left the perfect gap!
Well I use my phone several things in relation to my job, most obvious being phone calls,texts and emails…Duh!
I’m a sparky so one thing I always do is take a picture of some connections before I take it apart, it’s amazing how reassuring it is to go back and check a phone of the ‘before’. As mentioned above, googling something like an RJ45 connection is also helpful as some outlets don’t have handy colour charts by the connections. Googling Pdf’s, for example this last week I bought up a wiring diagram for an underfloor heating controller.
Finally, the torch…it’s always with you, jolly useful when you have a mishap and get plunged into darkness!
Joiner here currently working in maintenance. Also a bit of an Android fanatic. I use my phone extensively as a tool for my job – I’ll give a few examples. It’s my main torch (using Cyanogenmod’s built in torch toggle) which is handy because it’s always in my pocket. I actually never use a normal torch anymore as I have no need for one. The camera is actually quite useful too – if I have to dismantle something complicated it’s always helpful to take a few photos during the process to ensure I can reassemble properly. I also use the web browser quite a lot for various reasons – looking up material prices or assembly instructions for example. I use a note app for quickly jotting down measurements (if someone can recommend one which works with pics that’d be great!). While working I like to stream music using Google Music. My phone is probably my most used tool after my tape measure, I’ve completely integrated it into my working life.
Oh, my old LG O2X, I’d use that for whatever the hell I want to as it’s such a terrible device, ideally as a hammer!
I used to use my Nexus One’s teflon back as a chopping board, when I either couldn’t find the board or it needed washing.
It worked very well, was good for fruit and veg.
Im using mine at the moment to help me build a 3D printer. I use it to get the best prices on the parts. Using a onscreen level to make sure the build platform is level. And to view the manual and photos when im away from my pc.
I use my mobile device (HD2) with 12c app simulator in DIY, for calculate dates, for example, on international orders shipping #clove20
I got one of those new 3d LED Smart TV on sale, couple of weeks back. Since it was my first experience with LED TVs, I was excited to check out the features on it. One of them was the in-built SKYPE application. I turned on the WI-FI connection….connected my TV…logged in my SKYPE application and what do I get???
A message saying you can’t ‘video chat’ without a camera! (So obvious!). So I attached my web cam to it. But still.. the same message popping up!!! I tried a lot of other settings but…no luck
. I then searched the solution on the internet and came to know there are special cameras for TVs!!! Oh man! now i need to buy another camera just for this purpose!!!
But suddenly it occuured to me…I have my Sony Xperia S with me (of course bought from CLOVE TECHNOLOGIES) and it has HDMI connection! Attached the cables… connected SKYPE through my phone and there!!! I’m all set!!!!
Apart from that, I can now play my favourite movies, watch pics, listen to my music and play game too.
I used my phone as a bubble level to build my IKEA bookcase. All I can say is mission successful
the door on our microwave oven got jammed. I took the outer cover off (with mains unplugged of course) but I still couldn’t see into the mechanism, so I used my phone’s camera like a periscope and took photos giving me viewpoint physically impossible for my head.
I also use my phone camera to take photos of anything I dismantled with a view to reassembly! Here’s an example: http://www.flickr.com/photos/12629882@N05/sets/72157630006911625/
Have used my Adam tab as a personal navigation come media player plus USB player in my car along with a dashboard camera which I use to click pictures (it has a front facing swivel camera) of however is in the car (group outings,long drive)
Plus it follows my voice commands for googling etc and also plus sometimes I attach my wireless mouse and keyboard for work,games etc
An it’s 3G sim tethering gives me wifi in my car for other devices
https://twitter.com/dr_avreen/status/273850212802523136/photo/1
My experience in using mobile tech for DIY is this, a few yeaars ago my old auntie decided she wanted a nice shiny new fitted kitchen (always was a big cook and baker), so she called out a couple of companies to measure up her room and supply quotes. I went to visit a few days later and discovered that she had been left plan view drawings by the reps, and noticed that both were very uninspiring. On my next day off I took my laptop and went on another visit, this time we browsed through the kitchens available in the local DIY stores (fully tethered to my handset) to see if they had anything she liked. I measured up the room, and fed the sizes and shape into an on-line design app. After a good afternoon playing around and looking at all the options for corner units and the like we settled on a rough design and I trotted of to tidy it up and add a little polish to it. Throughout the whole process I was able to show her 3D images of how her kitchen would eventually look, right down to her choice of worktop and compare them with how the room looked at present. The difference in a semi-realistic 3D view and the crappy box plan diagrams she had been left was amazing. To top the lot off the design app produced a bill of materials for everything down to the last nut and bolt. Taking this to the local DIY store (had to go in person to get her 10% Wednesday discount) everything was delivered the next day. Took me a week or so to put it all together, but when finished she had a fantastic space to cook in.
I use my phone to google DIY info so it looks like I know what I’m talking about in front of the wife !
I have used my phone many times during DIY projects for a light/touch using the screen as my phone doesnt have an LED flash, usually holding the phone under floorboards. Also taking photos of electrical prjects for my Dad to approve. However one of the best uses my phone has been used for was when I had a plumber round to install my new combi boiler he found a stray pipe that was originally attached to the inlet pipe but he couldn’t find where it went so to try and find the other end I connected the end we had with the speaker on my phone and started playing music…we finally found the other end capped off in the attic. It was rather unsual, the plumber was sure it would of been fine leaving it un attached but I just wanted to find out where this random pipe went AND to be sure we werent just pumping gas out.
Well done Sam, you won a prize. http://blog.clove.co.uk/2012/11/29/competition-9-winners-using-your-mobile-devices-for-diy-construction-clove20/
this is similar to the original post above, but didn’t involve my wife. I was dropping cables down from the loft to the kitchen, but couldn’t quite get access to where they came out at the bottom, due to built in units, etc. I could lie down and stretch round to where the access point was but couldn’t feel the cables. I guessed that they had become entangled just short of the access. I sellotaped my N8 to a piece of cane and used it to video the access point so I could see where the cable was stuck. By watching this back, I was better able to aim for the right place and retrieve the cable and pull it through the rest of the way.
Not long after my husband died, I decided to go ahead with a major home renovation we had been planning. I knew what I wanted to achieve but didn’t realise that contracting several different trades meant that someone (eg. me) had to coordinate them all and essentially project-manage. My kitchen and bathroom were ripped out before I realised the full import of the work I had to organise.
My phone became invaluable. Moving between the different groups of contractors, whose contact numbers were kept on the phone, I was able to take notes on the fly, zoom in on details on various scans when we were discussing issues, locate materials and confirm details by showing them, and photograph every stage of construction.
I recorded discussions relating to price and time negotiations, kept schedules and to-do lists. Every detail of the work being done was captured on the phone.
My father is a builder. At every key point in the work I sent notes and photographs to him and, despite him living in a different country, he was able to oversee the work in absentia.
Using my phone in this way saved me time, money, and a lot of stress. However, where it really paid off was after the builders, plumbers, electricians, floor layers and painters left. The company that designed and installed my kitchen ripped me off. They did not deliver on what was promised and despite repeated undertakings to put things right this never happened. The day we went to court was priceless – I had photos of the work as it happened, photos of the tradesmen they had used but claimed had never been there, recordings of key conversations, and copies of everything (including paperwork they had refused to leave with me). I got every cent of my money back plus costs to reinstate the painting and walls to the way they were before that company had come in on the job.
A camera could have taken the photos but only a smart phone can keep time & date stamped photos, recordings, and documents all together, along with emails and product search history. Keeping my phone on me for every step of that build saved me a lot of money.
Well done Lynne you won a JCB sitemaster2. http://blog.clove.co.uk/2012/11/29/competition-9-winners-using-your-mobile-devices-for-diy-construction-clove20/
Email sales@clove.co.uk with your details to allow us to send you your prize.
Hi,
, when I need a flat surface.
I have a hobby. I make some wood furniture for my friends. And I’m using my windows smartphone as studio, where I make mockups for future furniture, and my iPod Touch as level
I’m a keen golfer and married to a PGA Pro who is potty about putting so he makes me use my digital spirit level app to calculate the degree of the green so I know where to aim. He says it’s so easy to work out but I disagree!!!
Well, i’m using my HTC One X for multiple DIY stuff: I use the flash of the camera as a flashlight of course, i’m using the inner gyro to make sure the stuff i build (like a shelf for example) are straight and not going sideways. I use the tape recorder to remember what wires i take in and out when i connect stuff (like car speakers to the radio). I use the camera to caption stuff that i can’t see from my point of view (like under the hood of my car). My HTC One X is my little helper and does almost anything besides actually fixing stuff.