Using your smart phone as a magnifying glass
Smart phones are able to do a lot of different things these days. Since the invention off applications for these phones, people have been making software to help make them even more useful. One group of applications that can be particularly useful for those with poor sight are text magnifiers. These apps use the phone's camera and light to zoom in on text on a document or in a book and display it on your screen. It's basically like having a magnifying glass in your pocket that also works in the dark. Here are a couple of apps you can try, one for iPhones and one for Android phones.
iPhone: Try Magnifying Glass with Light
Android: Try Magnifying Glass