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Wolfram|Alpha Launches Widgets to Share Computable Facts across the Web

Published July 27, 2010

The Wolfram|Alpha Widget Builder Allows Anyone to Create and Share Simple yet Powerful Web Applications

Wolfram Alpha LLC today announced the beta versions of Wolfram|Alpha Widgets and Widget Builder, giving anyone the power to create easily shareable interactive modules using its computational knowledge engine. With widgets, people can deliver results from Wolfram|Alpha’s vast data repository, sharing their knowledge using simple, powerful, customizable applications. It’s so easy that a Wolfram|Alpha widget can be built in only a few steps using the drag-and-drop Widget Builder. Widgets can also be personalized, allowing creators to customize the look and feel of the widget as well as the display of the results.

“Widgets are the next step in our goal of making Wolfram|Alpha ubiquitous—available to everyone, everywhere,” said Barak Berkowitz, Managing Director, Wolfram|Alpha. “With widgets you get a brand new way to experience the power of Wolfram|Alpha and share it with your readers and friends. By putting the massive data repository and computational capability of Wolfram|Alpha in everyone’s hands, we fully expect to be surprised and impressed by the innovative ways people put this power to use in their areas of interest and expertise.”

Widgets can be created from any Wolfram|Alpha query. Want to have an app on your blog that calculates the predicted adult height and weight of a child based on his or her current stats? Or how about an app that compares the financial data of two public companies? Or creates a customized nutritional label for any recipe you have? The possibilities are limitless. For more examples of widgets, see the hundreds already in the Widget Gallery. You can freely take any of the gallery’s widgets and embed them on your own blog or website as is or customize them any way you wish.

Wolfram|Alpha powers the wolframalpha.com website as well as factual results on partner sites like Bing, mobile applications such as the Wolfram|Alpha iPhone and iPad apps, and eBook content for books like The Elements: A Visual Exploration. With today’s announcement, anyone can have a widget powered by Wolfram|Alpha.

The beta versions of Wolfram|Alpha Widgets and Widget Builder are available today for free. Release 1.0 will be available later this year.