What is WolframAlpha? Think of it as a cross between a search engine and Wikipedia, though more intelligent and to the point than the former, while significantly more authoritative than the latter (though currently less robust than both).
WolframAlpha's examples list shows the vast potential of the engine.
WolframAlpha is a knowledge base that offers answers to a very wide and often surprising array of questions. Looking to solve a complex math equation or find the current position of a comet? WolframAlpha's got your back. Need to compare the frequency of surnames in North America, quickly view the nutritional value of a meal, or analyze a gene and see its position on a chromosome? Yup, WolframAlpha does all that too. It's an amazing resource for finding out facts on all sorts of subjects, and it's fun to simply pop from subject to subject in search of trivia and other compelling tidbits.
Need to type out a complex equation? Scope out that super-sized keyboard!
What makes the universal iPad/iPhone app a worthy purchase at $1.99 is the way it guides users through the intricacies of the platform: the examples list has hundreds of potential queries to check out, and they had us digging around for hours to see the full extent of WolframAlpha's capabilities.
WolframAlpha won't replace Google or Wikipedia just yet, but it'll come in handy for a large number of quick-fix fact hunts.
WolframAlpha 1.2.0
COMPANY: Wolfram Alpha
CONTACT: www.wolframalpha.com
PRICE: $1.99
REQUIREMENTS: iPad or iPhone
Helpfully guides you through potential queries related to your search.
Not as robust as a search engine or Wikipedia.
clszm
June 14, 2010 at 7:18pm
At least the geniuses (ironic sarcasm intended) at WolframAlpha had enough common sense NOT to price the iPad version at $49.99 the first time around
sportmac
June 14, 2010 at 5:12pm
i wanted to do some research on planetary gears, specifically for bicycles. i thought this would be a good place.
wrong. it's basically useless for everything i've tried so far so if there's some magic to it that i'm not getting i'll stick with google. i can't be bothered with something that returns little more than synonyms for dang near everything i put into it.
and... they've teamed with bing of all things. nope, google it is.
