Wolfram Alpha ‘search engine’ goes live

A web tool hailed as a significant rival to search giant Google has gone live to the public.Wolfram Alpha is called a computation knowledge engine rather than a search engine and wants to change the way people use online data.It aims to give people direct answers to queries rather than send them to other sites where they may find what they are seeking.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8052798.stmWolfram Alpha: taking the first steps to an invaluable future
Wolfram Alpha is the first small step on the way to having a system that answers questions. It doesn’t have anything like enough data to be useful at the moment, but it could become invaluable in the futureWolfram Alpha is no ordinary search engine, but occupies a space somewhere between Google and Wikipedia. Whether it will ever be as successful is open to doubt. However, if you need exactly the sort of answer that Wolfram Alpha is designed to provide, it’s already a terrific resource.The site’s slogan says it’s a “computational knowledge engine” and the search box has an equals sign at the end. It’s probably most useful as a “homework engine” – though one that is focused on science, engineering and maths, rather than the arts and humanities.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/may/18/wolfram-alpha-search-engine-google-rival-semantic-webGoogle challenged by new rival with all the answers – WolframAlpha
A revolutionary new search engine that computes answers rather than pointing to websites will be launched officially today amid heated talk that it could challenge the might of Google.WolframAlpha, named after Stephen Wolfram, the British-born computer scientist and inventor behind the project, takes a query and uses computational power to crunch through huge databases.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article6307744.eceWolframAlpha takes search in a whole new direction
After much online chatter and media buildup, WolframAlpha is up and running, promising to take online search in a whole new direction.Not wanting to be called a search engine, Wolfram Research Inc., the folks behind WolframAlpha are calling their new service a computational knowledge engine. It’s akin to a fact engine, a way to look for facts or stats.
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9133207
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/tech/2398FB4474EBA0D5CC2575BA00736E16
http://computerworld.com.au/article/303664/