If we were given Casio's Prizm calculators in math class, perhaps I wouldn't have failed so dismally. Or maybe I would've got even worse marks—spending the 60 minutes of every class searching for Solitaire and Minesweeper.
Looking more like some sort of high-end specialized businessphone than a calculator, the Prizm has a 3.7-inch color LCD screen. Battery life is said to be an astonishing 140 hours (it does use 4x AAA batteries, mind), which means you could have it switched on for the entirety of the school week (and most of Saturday) before it fizzles out.
As for what the Prizm is capable of, well, it still plots graphs and solves all sorts of calculations the mind-power is incapable of processing. Plus, it'll give 15-year-olds an opportunity to pretend they've got really "cool" smartphones. Don't deny you didn't ever fool around with them in class, pretending to phone one another.
The Prizm will go on sale next January for $130. [Casio release]