Wolfram Alpha: A new slant on Web data

The online "computational engine" supplies answers to factual, data-intensive questions but also does math in the process. Is it really a Google rival, or something different?

Wolfram Alpha searching for its niche

One week after its debut, CNET readers found the service hard to use and not all that helpful. Wolfram is no Google, but it's no Cuil, either.
• Wolfram Alpha is live; give us your impressions
(Posted in Webware by Tom Krazit)
May 22, 2009 4:00 AM PDT

Screenshots: A tour of Wolfram Alpha

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Firefox add-on puts Alpha in your Google

Curious to use Wolfram Alpha, but don't want to give up Google as your main search engine? Now you can use both at the same time with this Firefox extension.
• Ads appear on Wolfram Alpha
(Posted in Webware by Josh Lowensohn)
May 20, 2009 1:29 PM PDT

Wolfram Alpha launches amid glitches

Myriad problems prevented Wolfram Alpha from going live Friday evening as expectations for full service were reset for Monday.
(Posted in Cutting Edge by Tom Krazit)
May 15, 2009 6:03 PM PDT

'Snag' could delay Wolfram Alpha launch

Stephen Wolfram says a large-scale traffic simulation test failed, which puts the planned Friday debut of the new online tool in question.
(Posted in Cutting Edge by Michelle Meyers)
May 15, 2009 2:27 PM PDT

Wolfram Alpha gets supercomputer boost

Two supercomputers--one of them the 66th fastest in the world at present--will power the Wolfram Alpha site for search, calculation, and data crunching.
(Posted in Cutting Edge by Stephen Shankland)
May 12, 2009 12:17 PM PDT

Wolfram Alpha shows data in a way Google can't

CNET News editor Rafe Needleman and reporter Stephen Shankland discuss their ups and downs with the search engine that computes.
(Posted in Webware by Rafe Needleman and Stephen Shankland)
May 5, 2009 12:04 AM PDT

Video: Wolfram Alpha, first hands-on

CNET's Rafe Needleman gets a look at the eagerly anticipated new computational search engine, Wolfram Alpha. Is it a Google killer? No, but it has the potential to change the way we view data on the Web.
May 5, 2009 4:02 PM PDT

Google crashes Wolfram Alpha debut party

Mathematica maker publicly demonstrates a Web service to dig into data like stock prices or mortality--but Google launches a similar service on the same day.
• Google adds new depth to complicated searches
• Mathematica 7 arrives with built-in human genome
(Posted in Cutting Edge by Stephen Shankland)
April 28, 2009 1:45 PM PDT

Wolfram Alpha: Next major search breakthrough?

Stephen Wolfram has come up with a new and potentially revolutionary search paradigm for finding answers via the Web.
(Posted in Outside the Lines by Dan Farber)
March 8, 2009 8:42 AM PDT

[knowles2]

The search engines, needs work, a lot of work but I bet that was the same when google launch. It far to picky about language an how you ask questions. I am as they the AI and algorithms evolves behind the scenes this will improve or perhaps users will get better at asking questions.

Even know it had every town around my home town, some which are significantly smaller, it did not have my home town in its database.
Also a other thing I found odd is that is brings up stargate the film but completly ignores the TV series, like they do not exist. It needs to grow it database rapidly. It may do better in the area of pure scientific, it handle quantum well and "What is quantum" which both produce the correct answers.

I am sure these gaps are just teething problems and will be solve eventually. Another problem is that it so damn slow compared to Google. It needs a few more super computers I reckon, and quickly.

But I believe as the systems grow and matures, new features are added it could grow into a valuable tool to use on the internet. One of those features that need to be added is links that explains the data that its generates and technical terms, give people some definitions.
The biggest problem it faces is that can it achieve it goal before the giant that is google copies them and use there superior resources to build these technologies into google.

How ever this engine may purpose a bigger threat to the likes of Yahoo and Windows Live who just seem to continually lagging behind and I have heard of either one having anything like this in development.

[Pon666]

Wolfram Alpha is simply awesome. Perfect for calculations and a hell lotta more. I'm a science student and wolfram alpha makes life much easier for me. Thank you- the people who made this search engine a reality.