[kiloaper]

>As further outlined in a Wall Street Journal story on the subject on Thursday, a search for “Lake Tahoe” will produce “key attributes” that Google knows about the lake, including its altitude, location, salt content and average temperature. The query “What are the 10 largest lakes in California?,” meanwhile, would yield an answer instead of just links to relevant sites.

Sounds like WolframAlpha.

[icebraining]

They have been doing that for some time now. Typing "firefox license", for example, gives you an answer right at the top.