Mobile Wikipedia service will allow users to ask queries and get answers directly from their cell phones

Jun 1, 2007 14:05 GMT  ·  By

AskMeNow announced a preliminary agreement with the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit organization behind the well-known online encyclopedia Wikipedia, to introduce a natural language desktop search and mobile search of Wikipedia.

The beta site for the desktop search will be developed by AskMeNow's natural language search experts with the assistance of the Wikimedia Community and will consist of a desktop interface that will enable anyone to ask queries, check and edit results and post corrections and updates to the system. Using AskMeNow's semantic search tool as the base and Wiki's active community as the guide, AskMeNow and the Wikimedia Foundation plan to offer users a distinct new search experience. Users will be able to simply ask a question and receive the specific answer directly from Wikipedia's knowledge database.

Initially, natural language search will be available in English, to be followed by other languages over the coming months. Following the completion of a successful desktop beta version, AskMeNow and the Wikimedia Foundation will also launch a free Mobile Wikipedia service that will allow users to ask queries and get answers directly from their cell phones.

"AskMeNow is extremely excited about the opportunity to provide a unique service to one of the worlds most popular user generated sites," stated Darryl Cohen, CEO of AskMeNow. "We look forward to working side by side with the many volunteers that make Wikipedia one of the Internet's top ten sites. Together with the Wikimedia Foundation, we will establish new ways to interact with Wikipedia's content without jeopardizing the uniqueness that has made it so successful."

AskMeNow is a service that offers a quick and convenient way to view information from the Internet on the mobile phone, including access to 411 listings, Weather, Movie Times, Sports Scores, Directions, Horoscopes, Travel Information, Stock Quotes and more. AskMeNow utilizes its proprietary technology to offer a natural language-based interaction and dynamic content provision platform designed for simple and quick information retrieval.