After entering your equation, you’ll have to enter a reasonable estimate of the answer before QAMA gives up the exact result. Samson’s goal in inventing the calculator is to keep students thinking and not be overdependent on calculators.

Fortunately, the QAMA can be quite forgiving if needed. It has a normal mode where it will provide the answer outright, but the device will flash its lights while it’s in this mode, alerting the people around you of your laziness. Even in its default estimate mode, the QAMA will eventually provide the correct answer if you give an incorrect estimate five times, but not without a slight delay to urge the user to think.

Head to the QAMA website for more info on this unique calculator. Unfortunately for Mathletes the online store is down as of this writing. Maybe we need to provide a good estimate of the calculator’s price before we can buy one.

[via Reddit]

The Calculator 10 is just that – it’s a traditional calculator, designed to fit in right alongside today’s fanciest gadgets. It’s got a case design that’s very similar to the iPhone 4/4S, though without any pesky Gorilla Glass to crack or get thumbprints all over. It’s also done away with the touchscreen Retina display, A5 processor, cameras, accelerometer, GPS, and iOS – in favor of a basic 10-digit LCD screen and some clicky plastic buttons. At least it can handle square roots and percentage calculations. As an added bonus, the Calculator 10 is available in one color that you can’t get the iPhone in – red.

About the only thing the Calculator 10 has going for it is its price – about $11 (USD), and its battery life – about five years under typical use. Try and do that with your fancy iPhone! You can get your hands on the Calculator 10 in black, white or red over at Strapya World.

Texas Instruments calls it the TI-Nspire cx CAS, but we might as well call it a Game Boy Color, because the calculator can be hacked to run an emulator for Nintendo’s console. Do a quick Google search and you’ll see that other TI-Nspire models can be installed with Game Boy and NES emulators as well. Just to rub it in your old Casio’s monochromatic face, here’s how you spell “boobs” on this calculator:

BURN.

[via Reddit]

These office supplies were created by the Spalvieri/Del Ciotto studio for Lexon. All of these creations are sustainable and are powered by photovoltaic cells. When that’s not enough, they include rechargeable batteries. They are made out of corn plastic, which is eco-friendly and has a unique feel. Even the color scheme is geared to sustainability, as it’s white with green accents.

The Maizy collection includes a radio, LED flashlight, analog and digital alarm clocks and two calculators. Lexon doesn’t advertise retail prices on their wholesale website, but I imagine they’ll be reasonably priced when they hit stores.

[via Moco LoCo]

The calculators in these pictures were both made by Sharp and released during the late 70s. They were informally known as sorocal or soroban calculators, soroban being the Japanese variant of the abacus. Another alternative name for it would be sorotaku, for soroban dentaku, dentaku being the Japanese term for calculator. Another name for it would be redundalator. Or maybe not.

Partners & Spade is selling these Sorocals – the one with brown beads is the EL-8048, while the one with white beads is the EL-428 – for $80 (USD). That’s like, a lot of beads.

[via The World's Best Ever,  Retro Calculators & X Number]

The controls had to be tweaked a bit and a custom Doom menu was created to make it different from the plain DOS version of the game. This is one small step for games, one giant leap for calculators.

This port is packaged with the Ndless program, allowing you to unlock your hardware and perform your own hacks as well, but you won’t have time since you will be busy playing Doom. In color! On a calculator!

[via Hack a Day via Slashgear]

You’ll notice from the pictures that this calculator very much mimics the shape of the iPad, along with a power button that looks like the iPad’s Home button. They even went so far as to make the buttons touch-sensitive. Measuring in at 9.45 in x 7.48 in x 0.47 in, it’s almost exactly the same dimensions as an original iPad, albeit a bit thicker than the iPad 2. At 10.37 oz. it weighs about 1/2 as much though.

But make no mistake, at just $12.50 (USD), this thing is ONLY a basic 8-digit LCD calculator. It does not run any apps, nor will it ever. So don’t get any funny ideas. If it weren’t obvious enough from the giant watermarks on the images, you can get the iPad-style calculator over at DealExtreme. I wonder if HP will try and make a version, then drop the price to $2 when they realize nobody wants it.

They served their purpose well for the past few decades or so while they reigned supreme as the top measuring device for carpenters, furniture makers, and DIY enthusiasts.

Now Smart String, another measuring tool, might just be the one that can upstage it. No metal tape measures here that make it hard to measure the circumference of round or irregularly-shaped objects here, just pure string.

Just pull on the metal tab, use the string to measure whatever it is you want to measure, and read the length off the digital display on the Smart String unit. It’s small and handy, as you can see, and can measure objects up to 50″ in length and store up to three measurements in memory. And if you were wondering why it has keypads that look like that of a calculator’s, that’s because the Smart String doubles as a calculator, too. And if you need a longer version, they’re already working on the 12-foot, industrial-strength Smart String 2.

Smart String is available from ThinkGeek for $11.99 (USD). It’s a good deal, if you ask me.

[via 7Gadgets via Oh Gizmo!]

While this might seem an odd peripheral for some people, especially those that have both a plain old calculator and a mouse on their desks, the mouse can double as a numeric keypad. Most of today’s new, minimal keyboards eschew the numeric keypad, so this is really handy for bringing that back.

This mouse has Bluetooth connectivity and is made out of recycled materials from Canon copiers.

If you don’t like the layout of these buttons, you could always just ask Google or Wolfram Alpha to do your calculations for you (which is what I do).

Simply replace the entire department’s regular desk calculators with one of these “special” calculators, guaranteed to miscalculate everything they key into them. To seal the deal, you might want to attach a company memo stating they they’ve all received their new calculators as a gift from the company.

The Wrongulator may look like a typical solar LCD calculator, but it’s designed to drive its users batty, by replacing all proper mathematical logic with complete and utter rubbish, providing brilliant answers like “10 + 5 = 10″.

You can get your hands on one over at UK gadget shop RED5 for £4.95 (~$7 USD). Just be sure not to let one accidentally get into the hands of the payroll department.

Unfortunately it doesn’t actually work, so it’s permanently stuck on “0.7734″ (or “hELL.O” when you flip it over. I’m surprised they didn’t go with “8008135″, which is what most of us guys spelled out on ours when we were kids. And “5H3LL01L”. I suppose you could always just rubber band an actual calculator to the back of your iPhone if you really want one that works. But there’s a working calculator app on the front-side already, right?

This particular case comes from Homade’s “Flashbacks” series, which also includes an equally-fun retro Famicom controller case too. They’re both available over at Strapya World for about $15 (USD) each.

I was probably one out of the three students in my class who would carry two different models of scientific calculators at all times. You know, for emergencies.

Anyway, Kokuyo’s X-ViZ calculator isn’t really a scientific one but nonetheless, it’s a calculator that I definitely want to add to my collection. (My current count is at 11. I know, too many, right? I probably have more calculators than I’ll ever need or use in my lifetime which is why I’m thinking of passing them on to other people who need them…)

These sleek and ultra slim calculators just tickle my fancy. The unique thing about them is that they were meant to be used with one hand only. You know, like when you switch channels on your TV remote or compose an SMS message on your mobile phone.

The Kokuyo X-ViZ calculator was the brainchild of robot designer Tatsuya Matsui. It will be made available in Japan on May 11 for appx. $64 (USD). To order one for yourself, you should check out Japan-based shopping service Rinkya or Flutterscape.

[via CrunchGear]

The $25 Bring Tim! timer should be standard issue in every corporate conference room. Just punch in an average hourly rate for your staff, the number of people in the meeting, then start the timer. For every second that ticks by, you get to see exactly how much money the meeting is costing. Brilliant, no?

Now all you need is to convince everyone else in the room to tell you how much they make per hour, and you’ll be all set.

[via The Raw Feed]

The end result isn’t the cleanest-looking project ever, but who cares? It works, and better still? It only took about thirteen hours. By now, creator Alentris has probably spent more time playing games than he spent making his hybrid.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

There’s a big unanswered question here, though. What does Alentris do when a calculator is actually needed? Having two on your desk might be a little conspicuous….

The X-Cool Calculator looks like something you might play some old Genesis or SNES games with, but it really just does basic math. The primitive 8-digit LCD screen is also good for spelling “800813S.” The guys over at Australia’s DealsDirect claim that the two-handed operation makes “calculating that much easier,” but I really have my doubts that you’ll be buying one of these if you have any serious equations to solve.

Want one? You can grab the X-Cool Calculator here for $12.95 (AUD), which works out to be about $11.50 (USD), which is actually a few bucks more than buying an old SNES controller, and a calculator and taping them together, a la FOTC’s camera phone.

[via NewLaunches]

Those who want their peripherals to blend in with the rest of their computer will be glad to know that the 10 Key also comes in black and white.

I don’t know if there’s any way to re-map the arrow keys though, and that could be a problem if you’re used to the 2-4-6-8 layout of ordinary numpads. Unless of course that functionality is baked into you operating system and not in the peripheral itself.

You can get the 10 Key at Retail Factory for £50 (approx. $80 USD). I guess the dual functionality and the design were factored into the formula used to derive the price.

[via ChipChick]

The Mac version has a metal case and a 2-liner LCD screen like its software counterpart, while the Windows calculator sports the classic XP color scheme, and even has menu headers. I know that these are just concepts, but what would the window buttons (maximize, minimize, close) be for in a real calculator? It would be awesome if you could actually maximize a real calculator though.

The designer is aware of the fact that it would be unlikely for either Apple or Microsoft to let any third party get away with making these calculators, so is leaving it up to the two computer makers to make real-life versions of their OS calculators, if only to give away as gifts or for marketing gimmicks. And if they decide to go ahead with it, maybe they should contact Mintpass.

That’s right, this ordinary looking Casio LCD desktop calculator has been retrofitted to conceal a tiny little video camera, perfect for snooping on your unsuspecting office buddies in between math equations.

From the product description, it sounds like its got a built in digital video and audio recorder, and runs on a 9-volt battery, so it’s completely self-contained. Although I am confused by the part where it says that it’s also a wireless camera with a built in transmitter and a remote video receiver. Maybe it can send an analog feed in real-time, and then store video on the internal memory. Each one comes with 8GB of storage and can record videos at up to 628×582 pixels (what a strange resolution). Plus it doesn’t need much light to operate – just 3 Lux. Plus, it’s still a fully-functional calculator, which should make it look even less suspicious to casual observers.

The calculator spy cam is available over at ChinaGrabber for $78.99 (USD). But there’s also a guy over on eBay with what appear to be exactly the same calcucameras for a few bucks less. But in this case, the resolutions listed seem to make more sense, they mention no wireless connectivity and a built-in rechargeable battery instead of a 9-volt. Who knows which product listing is more accurate? I’m laying odds on the eBay option. That said, as is always the case with these odd little gadgets from China, caveat emptor, YMMV and all that jazz.

As it’s name implies, the CheckMaster was used to balance checks. The calculator itself is embedded in a folding case, perfect for storing a checkbook. The CheckMaster can store the latest result or balance even after it’s turned off, quite remarkable for a calculator that was built in the early- to mid-seventies. Also remarkable, but in a bad way, is the fact that the CheckMaster could only add and subtract, and yet it required 6 AAA batteries. 6! The storage function probably sapped most of the juice.

But not all of the old calculators look as boring – or as brown – as the CheckMaster, some are geeky yet cool, like calculator watches. Wrist calculators, on the other hand, are just geeky. Wrist calculators crank the geek up to 11 x 10²³ . Wearing one is a sign that you’re too smart for your own good. One such watch, the Quik-Check, is not only a bully magnet, it’s also a dumbbell for your wrist, because it required a freakin’ 9 volt battery to function.

The Quik-Check is also a 70s baby – the one featured here was made in 1977 -  so it also has red LEDs and the brown theme going on.

For me, one of the few rewarding aspects of studying any kind of history is when I discover that some things have always been the way they are. Well not always-always, but you know what I mean. Case in point: the Calcu-pen. On one hand, this calculator has a comically simple yet functional name: it’s a calculator embedded in a pen, therefore it’s a calcu-pen. It’s a nice contrast to the nonsensical names of gadgets today, weird shit like Zune, Bravia, or Zii Egg Plaszma. On the other hand, it’s a calculator embedded in a pen.

Here’s how it works: “The buttons are 4-way switches. To operate, a finger is placed on a button and moved sideways in the direction of the number or operation required.” Rather than get a slight headache trying to analyze the hows and whys of this device, let’s go back to my “discovery”: what’s so familiar about the Calcu-pen? Nothing really; it’s people behind such an absurd device that comes as no surprise: the Calcu-pen was made around 1975 by Brando a Japanese company. See? Calculators can be interesting after all. You just wasted a couple of minutes of your life by reading this post! Check out the museum for more pics and information that you will not be able to use unless you’re planning on joining Jeopardy.

[via Retro Thing]

The building block calculator will be available starting August at Pylones. You can pre-order it now for $27 (USD).

I’ve been wondering: can’t LEGO sue Homade for this? They also make other LEGO-like products, like iPod docks and speakers. Hmmm. Well if LEGO won’t make awesome stuff like this, someone’s got to do it right?

[via Gadget Venue]