The latter consumer electronics company has just released a graphing calculator with a gorgeous color screen and a suite of apps, bringing mainstream math gadgets into the 21st century at long last. We certainly wish this tool had been available during our graphing-calculator days.
The fx-CG10/20 brings a colorful, high-resolution screen to the world of higher maths. It lets users graph in seven colors, and it displays up to 65,000 colors for some apps. It can even let you create graphs over photographic images using an "add-in" app called Picture Plot.
The calculator has data connection capabilities for hooking it up to a PC, and it runs on a rechargable battery, which means no more running to the store for AAAs at the beginning of the semester.
Here's an idea of what the calculator's home screen looks like:
And here's what it looks like side-by-side with a popular model from competitor Texas Instruments, which is currently the gold standard for graphing calculators:
As impressive as the Casio calculator's capabilities seem, we wonder whether this company will be able to upset the balance of the graphing calculator industry. As the incumbent, Texas Instruments holds a great deal of brand recognition and brand presige. Who knows; that company might be working on a full-color calculator of its own.
We're getting a review unit of the fx-CG10/20; stay tuned for our hands-on demo.