Top 6 Calculator Apps For Android

The Samsung Galaxy S, Droid X, MyTouch 3G Slide, Evo 4, the list goes on and on. Many of the hottest smartphones on the market today run on Google's Android OS. With each new device released for Android, the buzz about the system grows.

A quick search of "calculator" on the Android Market returned about a thousand results, far than most people would like to sort through. You'll find dozens of tip calculators, BMI calculators, mortgage calculators, love calculators, and more that are probably not what you are looking for. Luckily for you, we've done the hard work of searching through all of those apps for you and found these 6 worthy of your consideration.

#1 - HandyCalc Calculator by mmin

HandyCalc Calculator is our choice for the top calculator available on Android today. This app give you a lot of the basic functionality of a TI-84, including all scientific calculator capabilities, graphing, and the ability to solve systems of equations. Answers can be returned in fraction and radical form or converted to decimals. There are also simple copy and paste capabilities, something that should be available in more apps. The app even comes with a demo doc and a link to a video tutorial. There's a lot to like here, and even if it's not perfect, it comes as close as anything we've seen.

Pros: Free, scientific and graphing capabilities, solves systems of equations, returns both exact answers for fractions/radicals as well as decimal approximations.

Cons: Missing features of a typical grapher such as max/min, intercepts, etc.; swiping between keypads presses buttons and feels awkward; two different "equals" buttons (which perform different functions) can be a bit confusing.

Cost: FREE

#2 - Scientific Calculator by Kreactive Technologies

Scientific Calculator had the nicest UI of any calculator app we reviewed. Buttons are attractive, with a nice top-lit effect, and a good size, making them easy to press. A flick scroll or double arrow button allows you to easily access scientific functions. The calculator does feature some basic graphing capabilities. This calculator comes very close to 2-line functionality. You can enter an enTire calculation before pressing enter. Then you can return to previous calculations by long pressing the input area. There are more powerful apps on this list, but UI is important in an Android app, and Scientific Calculator has a great one.

Pros: Free, attractive UI, some functionality of a 2-line calculator, some graphing functionality

Cons: Graphing functions limited; comMents in the market indicate some users confused by lack of +/- button, although we found this easy to work around.

Cost: FREE

#3 - Calculus Tools by Andy Mc

A fantastic calculator app for calculus students is Calculus Tools. As its name implies, this app is focused almost exclusively on calculus, so it's not for everyone. The app can find integrals as well derivatives up to the fourth degree, both algebraically as well as with with defined limits. It also has the ability to help you solve problems involving arc length, surface area, and Taylor series. Your results can also be graphed. The app also contains a pretty extensive list of formulas that calculus students have to memorize. The only real drawbacks with this app are that its scientific calculator mode is still in beta and fAirly limited, and that all inputting must be done with your default keyboard.

Pros: Free, solve calculus functions symbolically or numerically, ability to graph functions, great "cheat sheet" of calculus formulas

Cons: Scientific calculator features still in beta, must use default keyboard instead of a custom math UI

Cost: FREE or .50 donate version

UPDATE: A math keyboard was added in an upgrade to Calculus Tools

#4 - Arity Calculator by Mihai Preda

Arity Calculator has a far different UI and capabilities from the other apps on this list. If you are looking for a good 3D grapher, this is it. You have the option to graph in either 2D or 3D, and simply pressing enter will take you to a clear prompt but will save your equation where it can easily be tapped if you need it later. We'd find it hard to recomMend this calculator to a novice, but it's sharp 3D features will definitely appeal to many users. Arity is also an open source app.

Pros: Free, open source, Fast, 3D capabilities, screenshots of graphs

Cons: Almost all commands (such as sin, cos, tan) have to be typed out; although you can navigate graphs and zoom in and out, there is no way to trace, find intercepts, etc.

Cost: FREE

#5 - RealCalc Scientific Calc by Brain Overspill

If you're looking for something comparable to a TI-30 (one line), the RealCalc Scientific Calc fits the bill. It's free, Fast, and offers all the functionality of a standard scientific calculator. It also features an excellent help menu for new users. The UI isn't exactly the sexiest, but we are sure some will appreciate how much it authentically looks like a retro calculator. Although we'd have preferred to see an authentic two line display, the developer has provided a previous answer feature, which can be set to retrieve numerous previous results.

Pros: Free, Fast, simple to use, offers functionality of a standard scientific calculator, Reverse Polish Notation option will appeal to some

Cons: One-line calculator interface, no graphing options, retro UI straight out of 1985 will not be for everyone

Cost: FREE

#6 - Calc+ by EricJohnson

Like many Android apps, Calc+ is available both in free and paid versions. The free version gets you the features you expect in a scientific calculator. The paid version offers the additional functionality of haptic feedback (vibrate) and unit conversions. In a clever UI decision the developer allows users to switch between a simple calculator and scientific mode by rotating rotating from portrait to landscape mode. The design is minimalistic, yet attractive. The biggest drawback to Calc+ is no ability to change from its default mode of radians into degrees.

Pros: Free version available, simple and attractive UI

Cons: One-line interface, trig calculations only in radians

Cost: FREE or $.99

ti nspire

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Can Casio Catch Texas Instruments?

Stop into almost any secondary school mathematics classroom in America today, and you will find that Texas InstruMents graphing calculators dominate the scene. Back in the early 90's, Texas InstruMents began a pattern of releasing a series of graphing calculators that were all extremely similar, with only small updates to the hardware and operating system: the TI-81, TI-82, TI-83, and lastly, the TI-84, in 2004. They were all received with great popularity, and since each successor was so similar to the one that came before it, it was simple for adults and kids to catch on.

After a decade of Texas InstruMents dominating the calculator market, you may wonder if there's even another choice out there any more. The short answer is, "yes," and it comes through Casio of America. Casio has been promoting itself in two ways in recent years, simplicity and affordability. Their products live up to the press on both fronts.

In terms of cost, Casio products are significantly less than the TI products they compete with. Of course, it's not an apples to apples comparison, but the Casio 9860GII and 9750GII are both significantly cheaper than any TI graphing calculators. The 9750GII actually retails for under , making it by far the lease expensive graphing calculator from a top manufacturer on the market. The graphical Menu system on these devices is also extremely easy for novices to use.

The future of Texas Instruments, however, is the TI-Nspire. Introduced in 2007, this device features high resolution, grey scale display, drop down menus, point and click interface, and the ability to create documents. Casio has had nothing to compete against this calculator until now. In October, Casio announced their new calculator, the Casio Prizm. It's a high resolution, color calculator with the ability to graph functions right onto photographs. The marketing video doesn't hide the fact that Casio is targeting the TI-Nspire with this release.

The battle for marketplace supremacy is once again on. Texas Instruments has a commanding head start, but Casio now has an innovative new product. When the Casio Prizm comes out in early 2011, expect a huge struggle for market share between these two companies.

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What's Hot For Halloween?

If you are taking your Halloween Party seriously this year, and want it to be the best in the neighbourhood, then it is worth getting up to date with what may be big on the coming Halloween scene. There are several aspects to holding a Halloween Party, and to put on the best "show", knowing what might be the most contemporary themes, the latest in horror props and scene setters, scary gadgets and costumes, will give you a big advanTAGe over those who have not checked out the Halloween scene for a few years.

Many of the old Halloween favourites will still be there this year, and long may it be so. Ghouls, vampires, pumpkins, witches and skeletons and other vinTAGe Halloween stars, will no doubt be there again in their thousands, but even they may be looking better, and in some cases more realistic and scary, than ever.

If you do not feel up to date with throwing a Halloween party, here are a few ideas that may help you plan a screaming success of a party:

Halloween Costumes

If you and your family are holding a Halloween party, you definitely need to be Dressed for the hosts' role, so choosing convincing costumes is an important start. Many Halloween costumes are available in child,even baby and Infant, sizes, so if you have children there is no need for them to be left out when it comes to costumes.

Halloween costumes need not be scary. In fact, there's a good chance that some of the most popular costumes will be based on Hollywood movies. A hot favourite is likely to be pirates, thanks to the release of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest; and especially Captain Jack Sparrow. Other Disney movie characters will also be popular for Halloween costumes, such as Jack Skellington of Nightmare Before Christmas, and for children Sulley Monster from Monsters Inc.

Apart from Disney movies, the return of Superman is sure to feed into the costume market for Halloween, and Harry Potter will no doubt be widely featured. Spiderman looks like being a common costume choice too.

Away from the movies, masks and costume generally seem to get more convincing by the year. the old frighteners such as Dracula and other vampires, zombies, ghouls will be given fresh facelifts for the new Halloween. Not every party goer wants to be a monster, though, and sexy costumes will undoubtedly be in demand again, even such vinTAGe costumes as sexy nurses, chambermaids, belly dancers and sexy cops.

Halloween Props and Scene Setters

It is worth having a good look around at what's available in the way of modern props to help you set the party scene at your home. You can consider setting up your garden, too, to become part of the atmosPh Metery can really give you the scope to set the right mood even before the guests come inside the house. Adding to that atmosphere could be a fog maker, pumping artificial fog around the tombstones and any other garden props. A few decapitated heads (artificial of course) with horrific expressions, and other frighteners, could be lit by setting up a low intermittent light near each one, to take visitors by surprise in the swirling fog. Air blown large scale monsters are another possibility for outside or inside the house.

Inside the house, there is a wide choice of scene setters around these days, which you can fix to the walls. These scenic backdrops can help to set up a haunting feel to the house. Your lighting needs to be carefully arranged to have maximum effect, while maintaining safety for family and guests.

Body parts (again, artificial!) such as severed hands, feet, legs and heads, can be used, with strategic placeMent, to provide the odd surprise around the house. You could even a full skeleton lying in the bath, with just a glimpse through the curtains in a candlelit bathroom. All these Halloween props are easy to find nowadays, so it is just up to your imagination and budget as to how you make use of them. With thousands of props available, the options are imMense.

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