Those high school calculators aren't what they used to be. Bloomberg Bootcamp, a report on today's technology. They used to be banned from classrooms. Using a calculator was cheating. Now they're a requirement for kids taking all kinds of high school math. And the latest student calculator from Texas Instruments will not only help to solve those equations... .it will help with other subjects, keep schedules and phone numbers and play games as well. TI education and productivity VP Tom Ferrio says the TI 83 Plus Silver Edition... connects to a PC and lets students download a wide variety of applications...

"Well with the add-on software, you can start going way beyond the kind of things you think about on these devices. One of the examples is the software called Study Cards. And with Study Cards, either the student or other people can develop study guides that the student can use for studying topics in a subject. It can keep track of which ones you know the answers of, which ones you need to keep studying."

The price... about 129 dollars. But buying before the school year begins isn't always a good idea. Math teachers often recommend specific models to buy...

"And what they'll typically say is there are several you can choose from, but this is the one I'll be using as a teacher. And if you get this particular model, I can help you with it. If you get some other, I probably won't be able to."

You can find more information at education.ti.com Bloomberg Bootcamp, I'm Fred Fishkin.