Wolfram Alpha's "computational knowledge" arrives on Bing

 

Gallery

Posted on 12 Nov 2009 at 10:42

Bing has started to incorporate “computational knowledge” into its search results, as Microsoft's partnership with Wolfram Alpha bears fruit.

The link up was first reported back in August, but Microsoft says the benefits of the alliance should be available from today.

Wolfram Alpha is a search engine-like service that provides answers to factual queries by actually computing data, rather than simply providing a list of web pages that might contain the answer.

According to Microsoft, the addition of Wolfram Alpha results will enable Bing users to input complicated maths equations and obtain results in several formats, from graphs to tables. More importantly, the company says, the data can be blended with other web-based information to create a more informative bundle of results.

“This notion of creating and presenting computational knowledge in search results is one of the more exciting things going on in search,” says Bing program manager Tracey Yao in a blog post. “We‘ll be providing access to Wolfram Alpha’s advanced algorithms and expertly curated data within the Bing experience.”

The final practical applications of the Bing-Wolfram marriage are still a work in progress, but Microsoft says it will be using the service to deliver practical scientific information alongside general search results.

“Specifically, we will bring nutritional information and tools into Bing’s search results, as well as some straight up hard maths and homework help,” says Yao. “Bing, powered by Wolfram Alpha, will bring improved nutrition results in order to help you make more informed choices on your diet.

"You’ll get a nutrition quick tab that helps you to learn more about it. You also get a nutrition facts label at the bottom of the results page that summarises all information on that food."

According to Microsoft, the Wolfram Alpha computational software will give original answers to questions such as: “Which has more vitamins, orange or kiwi?” or “You are working out to get in shape for the ski season. Which has more protein, steak or chicken?”

The computational knowledge element is one of several improvements to Bing and Microsoft says the updates will be rolled out incrementally over the next few days.

Author: Stewart Mitchell