GPS Phone Sales Seen Rising - Strategy Analytics

STOCKHOLM (Dow Jones)--GPS smartphone sales are expected to grow rapidly in the current year, driven by improved applications and strong consumer acceptance of navigation devices, Strategy Analytics said Wednesday.

Shipments of GPS smartphones, like Nokia Corp.'s (NOK) N97 and Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPhone, are seen increasing 34% to 77 million units in 2009 from 2008, the research firm said.

"GPS smartphones...are a high-growth segment that continues to expand even during the current, tough economic times," said Strategy Analytics Navigation Director Joanne Blight.

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Obama Pushes for Education Reform with $4.35 Billion in Competitive Grants

President Barack Obama is calling on states and districts to set higher standards for student achievement. In a speech delivered at the United States Department of Education headquarters in Washington, DC Friday, Obama highlighted some of the top reforms he thinks will help accomplish this and also announced $4.35 billion in competitive grants designed to help support innovative reform efforts.

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Schools slowly add phones, PDAs to curriculum

NEW YORK—

Smartphones now have hundreds of applications meant to educate kids — from graphic calculators to animation programs that teach spelling and phonics.

And while most public schools don't allow the devices because they're considered distractions — and sometimes portable cheating tools — some school districts have started to put the technology to use.

The key, educators say, is controlling the environment in which they are used.

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Draft Content Standards Elicit Mixed Reviews

A draft of common academic standards, meant to bring greater coherence to the nation’s English and mathematics lessons, is drawing a mix of enthusiastic, ambivalent, and barbed responses from those who have seen it.

The working document, which was unexpectedly put out for public consumption yesterday, is meant to serve as the first step of a standards-writing process, led by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. The crafting and review of those academic guidelines is expected to play out at least through the end of the year.

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