While on a recent business trip I realized I needed a mobile stand so I could skype with my family back home, besides, I was also trying out a new time lapse camera application on my phone. After trying to prop the phone against some books etc I decided this called for some more serious thought. This is what I came up with, from materials found in my hotel room.

Materials
1. Styrofoam cup or tray
2. pen or pencil
3. Knife or blade or anything to cut styrofoam with.
4. (smart?) Phone or tablet

Step 1: Measure Twice, Cut Once

I used the styrofoam cup from a pack of cup noodles. Remember the rim of the cup should be wide enough when placed upside down to not topple over when your mobile is finally mounted on it.

Turn the cup over and mark two parallel lines on the circular bottom then some more over the opposite sides.
I eyeballed this step. Place the mobile against the cup and draw two parallel lines as shown in the picture.

The sides can be cut at an angle if you want the mobile to be at an angle for example for easier reading as I did with the stand for the tablet in the next step.

Please note that the cup may not be sturdy enough to support the mobile when a finger is pressed against the touch screen. Making the side cuts deeper into the cup will lower the center of gravity of the whole contraption thus making it less prone to toppling over. However the cup may then cover part of the screen.

Just go with what seems best to you and your device. I think paper cups may be too flimsy for this application.

Anyway, moving ahead, place the cup firmly on a table and very very carefully cut along the marked lines, then push in the strip between the lines as shown in the picture.

Thats all for the mobile stand. The mobile can be mounted in the slot in either landscape or portrait mode.

Step 2: Tablet Stand

Since a tablet is wider and heavier, it will require something much larger than a cup. For this I used a styrofoam tray. This was the kind you get at the supermarket with the vegetables pre-cut, weighed and shrink wrapped.

The tray is prepared in much the same way as the cup in the previous step. For the tablet, the slot is cut slightly towards one end and the sides slanted. This prevents the tablet from toppling over backwards and keeps it slanted to make it easier to read as shown in the first picture of the instructable.

BTW, the tablet is the nook HD+ (9") and the mobile a xolo Q800