Morning:
8°c
A radical internet search engine designed to take on Google has been launched.
Wolfram Alpha allows users to enter questions rather than simply typing keywords. For instance, a user can type in Gordon Brown' and get a basic biography of the PM. However, you can also type in “how old was Gordon Brown when David Cameron was born', and receive the correct answer (which is 15 years, seven months and 19 days, apparently). Its makers say that by giving more specific answers it will be easier to use.
It also comes as Google's search engine yesterday hit several major technical snags, cutting off millions of users for several hours from both its search engine and email service. “We want to give our users an exact answer rather than just a page of links,“ said Conrad Wolfram, one of the founders of Wolfram Research.
“It does at first glance look like a normal search engine, but in fact we have 10,000 computer processors behind the scenes working out an exact answer. It will really change the way we get our knowledge, and we hope it will change the way people search online.”
The technology behind the site was originally developed for solving mathematical puzzles and has been under development for 23 years. It is currently widely used in the city for running risk analysis predictions. “We have been doing this for a very long time and we hope that expertise will show through,” said Mr Wolfram.
The engine also constantly updates its answers, for instance type in “moon” and it will tell you the distance from the Earth to the Moon. But it's not just the average distance you would find with a search engine, it's the actual distance right now, which varies from hour to hour.
However, Mr Wolfram did admit the firm had been surprised by the level of interest in the google beater. “We think we are ready, but there is a lot of interest, so we will have to wait and see I suppose.”
Experts say the site is likely to be used alongside google, rather than replace it. “This is a long way from being a Google killer,” said Tom Dunmore of Stuff magazine.
“However, it is definitely the start of the next generation of web searching. While Google is about showing you the information online, Wolfram Alpha tries to make sense of it, and that is very exciting.”
Reader views (11)
What a name for this search engine...how do I do it to even remember the name !Wouf, wof or something like that is it ! Alpha I can manage.
- Edouard. B, Toulouse, France, 18/05/2009 06:50
Report abuse
I asked Wolfram Alpha how long it would be before Gordon Brown is voted out of office. Unfortunately, it couldn't tell me (the correct answer is 383 days), so it's not that clever then!
- Stuart, London, UK, 16/05/2009 11:15
Report abuse
Why is everyone anti Google? They are like an online mate.
Good luck to W A tho. Trouble is tho, how can we know the info is true. Still, I guess you could say that about books... sigh x
- Paul, Bromley, 15/05/2009 22:28
Report abuse
Google has certainly got too big for it's boots. Has anyone else found that despite having every possible protection on their computer, pop ups arrive "behind" the search subject, so that you have to click on them to take them out? Obviously then providing Google with a totally ficticious "click" score to charge the advertising client.
If I could find another search engine to find the stuff I want, I certainly would use it.
And I do not read the adverts, just out of principle.
- Ronnie, Billericay UK, 15/05/2009 17:59
Report abuse
They said mobile phones would not catch on either or that people would be carrying bottles of water around with them BUT it did.
- Martin, sheffield, 15/05/2009 17:21
Report abuse
If I had a penny for every 'next Microsoft', or 'next Google' announced in the press, I'd be a very rich man indeed.
- George, London, 15/05/2009 14:29
Report abuse
They said Google would never work to!!
- Mike, London England, 15/05/2009 14:03
Report abuse
bad name.
- Anthony Wong, london uk, 15/05/2009 13:23
Report abuse
This is absurd. This is nowhere near a 'google beater'. It is not intended to be one either. It is basically an easier to use version of the program 'Mathematica', which is a brilliant but difficult program to use.
It will be invaluable for research purposes, provide that they keep the databases it references clean.
- Tyler Durden, Milan, 15/05/2009 13:17
Report abuse
Sounds like a clever piece of software but I don't think the name is very catchy. Just Alpha might work.
- Isabel, Woking, 15/05/2009 12:59
Report abuse
It'll never catch on...
You could never "Wolfram Alpha it..." could you?
- Escobar-Alop-Lop, Camden County, 15/05/2009 12:34
Report abuse
