...I just added WolframAlpha web app to @appstorehq http://bit.ly/9um5bD would love to chat about this and our other features..... Read More

Wolfram Alpha, the statistical search engine that launched to curiosity and eventual bafflement in May, now thinks everyone should use it. Google's not a competitor, a spokesman said, but you should still use Wolfram's search instead. Sometimes. Wolfram Research, the Champaign, Ill., company that makes the search engine, appears to still be struggling to overcome an identity crisis that has plagued it for nearly a year. For the company, the question is whether Wolfram Alpha should be positioned as a premium product. Meanwhile, consumers wonder why they should use this instead of Google. The latter question was answered in August when Wolfram Research partnered with Microsoft. For those willing to switch from the almighty Google, Microsoft's Bing displays Wolfram's fact-based, data-rich results in some search results alongside traditional pages culled from the Web. That agreement (and a check from Microsoft) facilitated in a way Wolfram Alpha's move to "ubiquity," as the developer refers to changes Read More

MG Siegler is a general partner at CrunchFund and a columnist for TechCrunch, where he has been writing since 2009. His focus is on Apple. Prior to TechCrunch, MG covered various technology beats for VentureBeat. Originally from Ohio, MG attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI. He’s previously lived in Los Angeles where he worked in Hollywood and in... → Learn More For the past several months, I’ve given WolframAlpha a hard time. I actually think the service is pretty cool, I just think they drastically overpriced their iPhone app. The computational engine was trying to get users to pay $50 for the information they could access for free online. Sure, there’s something to be said for an iPhone-tailored experience, but $50 was just ridiculous. And guess who now agrees? WolframAlpha. The service has slashed — and I do mean slashed — the price of the app from $49.99 Read More

By Leanna Lofte, Thursday, Apr 1, 2010 | WolframAlpha has finally come to the realization that $49.99 is an unreasonable price for their app and have reduced the price to… wait for it… $1.99! On top of that, if you purchased WolframAlpha on an earlier date, you’re eligible for a refund. In October, 2009, WolframAlpha was released at $49.99 which was difficult to understand since their iPhone-optimized website was available for free through Safari. Two months later, the iPhone optimized version was removed and if you visited wolframalpha.com, a pop-up informed you that you could buy the app for “fully optimized mobile computable knowledge”. Now, Wolfram Alpha has completely reversed their strategy and not only substantially cut the price, but have also brought back the iPhone optimized site and are giving money back! To be eligible for the refund, you must have purchased WolframAlpha on or before April 1, 2010 for Read More

Wow, that’s some price drop. The Wolfram Alpha recently went from the $50 Ultra Double Somersault Premium price range down to the Double Fart Apps Plus price of $1.99 (news via Lifehacker). This is not a sale, but a permanent price drop. The computational search engine also announced that “early adopters” are eligible for a refund: all you have to do is request one. However, if two dollars is still two too much to pay for something you haven’t tried, Wolfram Alpha has also released a free mobile site you can check out. I’ve never used Wolfram Alpha in my life, but with this generous new movement towards ubiquity, I might just give it a shot. The service is apparently great for asking very specific questions about objective data and display answers in a way that Google simply can’t manage right now –  although at first glance it looks to me Read More