TI intros new TI-Nspire with touchpad graphing calculator handheld

SAN DIEGO, USA: Texas Instruments has empowered teachers to create their own interactive math classroom with the introduction of its TI-Nspire with Touchpad graphing calculator handheld.

The new TI-Nspire handheld, being unveiled this week at the NCTM 2010 Meeting & Exposition in San Diego, adds new touchpad navigation and computing functions, which teachers have said will help them better show math concepts in action while enabling students to take a more active role in their learning.

Many of the new features added to the TI-Nspire handheld were suggested by teachers using the earlier version of the TI-Nspire handheld. Some of these new features include:

* A streamlined touchpad keypad that gives the handheld the feel and function of a laptop computer touchpad.
* An alpha keyboard at the bottom of keypad that enables easier text creation.
* An enhanced home screen that makes it easier to access files and applications.
* The scratchpad feature that lets users perform quick calculations and create graphs without opening a new file.
* Extended battery life using the TI-Nspire Rechargeable Battery (sold separately beginning in summer 2010).

The new handheld retains many of the powerful features and functions of the original TI-Nspire handheld including the capability to show math problems four ways simultaneously on a single screen as a graph, table, equation and text problem.

The dynamically linked representations all update each time one part of a problem is changed. This feature enables students to understand relationships among math concepts. Students also can create, save and edit their work similarly to the file storage of a computer.

The handheld is compatible with the TI-Nspire Navigator, the TI-Nspire Teacher Software and the TI-Nspire Student Software. The TI-Nspire with Touchpad handheld is permitted on SAT, AP, ACT, IB, PSAT/NSMQT, and Praxis exams, as well as many state tests.