Bing, Wolfram|Alpha Sign Search Deal for Dieters

Back in August rumors did the rounds about a search deal between Wolfram|Alpha and Microsoft. Word on the street was Bing would soon display Wolfram|Alpha data in search results. Talks between the two companies had reportedly been going on for months, and today the pair finally unveiled their partnership to the public.

The Bing team today announced that the decision making engine can now provide the 90 million dieting Americans (that's each year by the way) with information on their nutritional and physical conditions using data and algorithms from Wolfram|Alpha.

"When you search for specific food items on Bing, you’ll get a nutrition quick tab that allows you to learn more about it," writes the team. "You also get a nutrition facts label at the bottom of the results page that summarizes all information on that food item in a very familiar and friendly format." Those trying to get fit and lose weight can also benefit from a BMI calculator inside Bing search results.

Despite the fact that they seem to be really pushing the dieting thing, Program Manager Tracey Yao and Product Manager Pedro Silva point out that Wolfram|Alpha is actually capable of a lot more than telling you how much protein is in your grilled chicken.

"We are also able to rely on Wolfram|Alpha's ability to solve complex math functions (and some easy ones too) and to provide you with knowledge about unique math concepts."

Do you think you'll get more use out of the data curated by Wolfram|Alpha now that it is included in Bing search results? Let us know in the comments below!

  • don't know about you guys, but my town we're able to order food online and have it delivered to our door. eventually with software like this, you can just say how many days you want food for, how many calories to take in per day, stuff like that. we'll never have to do simple math again!!! take that math profs around the world!!!
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  • endoftheline2
    This is when we will get enslaved by a smarter species :(
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  • dark_lord69
    I wish I had something like that when I was taking college math.
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  • theLaminator
    hmm wonder if my Cal professor will let me use my laptop as a calculator...
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  • wildwell
    Cool, I use the Wolfram|Alpha search engine from time to time. It's nice that to know I'll be able to use Bing for a general search and have it pull Wolfram|Alpha results based on context.
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  • bfstev
    I'm more interested in the calc functions, but more accurate results with more varied information all around is a good thing for a search engine
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  • anamaniac
    It seems Google needs to start upgrading their service to compete...
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  • Jenoin
    I've played with wolfram|alpha lots of times since I first heard about them on Tom's several months ago. Their product is interesting, hopefully they are getting paid lots of money for it now.
    Reply