Wolfram Alpha Pro launches this week
Wolfram Alpha is expanding its knowledge database — at least for those who sign on to the new Wolfram Alpha Pro platform launching this week.
Wolfram Alpha creator Stephen Wolfram explained during a conference call on Monday afternoon that "instead of being an anonymous drive-by experience, in the Pro experience, people can log in and get much more involved".
Specifically, Wolfram broke down the new capabilities that will be seen on Pro in two categories: output and input.
The output features include:
- Being able to generate interactive output using CDF (computer document format)
- Support for downloading graphics in other forms (ie, 3D geometry, vector graphics, formats for immediate use)
- The ability to customise the output of images that Wolfram|Alpha produces (ie, changing the input, title, frame, size, colour)
- Raw data downloads
New input features include an expanded keyboard in the desktop version (meaning more special characters) as well as being able to input searches by images besides just text.
"I find it much more useful than I ever expected, particularly these data upload capabilities," said Wolfram.
He added that what is exciting to him is that the Pro model not only accepts plain text input and general knowledge from the world-at-large like the original platform, but also individual knowledge and data.
Wolfram|Alpha Pro debuts worldwide this Wednesday, 8 February. There will be a trial period option. Subscriptions start at US$2.99 per month for students, followed by US$4.99 per month for the general public.
Via ZDNet US