Wolfram Alpha has been accessible on the iPhone via mobile Safari since last June, but now, the company has released a Wolfram Alpha iPhone app for retail at the App Store. Surprisingly, they’ve chosen to go against the trend of selling iPhone apps at dirt cheap prices and are actually selling it for $49.99. It’s not exactly what I would call an effective marketing ploy, but here’s they had to say about their new offering in an email sent to Gizmodo:

How many people will buy it? We’re not sure, but looking at the other apps that are $50+, we think that we’re of at least comparable in utility and functionality, if not more. And, part of what the company is also doing is making a statement about the non-trivial nature of WolframAlpha’s capabilities, and how much the system has matured since launch.

Personally, I’m still not buying it regardless of how matured it now is especially since I can just use Safari to head on over to their website and won’t have to pay a single penny in the whole process, but that’s just me, how about you guys? Are you willing to spend nearly $50 at the App Store for the Wolfram Alpha iPhone app?

[app shopper via gizmodo]