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News360 for iPad more competitive with a major update
I took a look at the free iOS app News360 more than a year ago and found it interesting and useful. The idea behind the app was to show you lots of different takes on a story, so you could see the subject covered from many different points of view. A new iPad version features a revamped interface, new social features and an option to more closely target your interests. When you first load the app you are asked to identify your areas of interest, like politics, movies, etc. The app then suggests sub-topics, so if you selected politics it will ask if you want to read stories about Mitt Romney, President Barack Obama, Congress or the Senate. %Gallery-164952% You can also remove sections, like European Politics, to further focus your results. The app is smart enough to suggest topics that are very current in the news as well. If you can't find what you want, you are free to add any topic or sub-topic you like. Once you click on a story, you'll see other sources for that same story appearing across the top of the screen. By clicking on them, you can see different points of view. If you like a story, click the "thumbs up" icon, and the app will learn from your ratings. You can also view a story on its originating website. There are a couple of things to note that are not so positive. First, sometimes the app displays images that have nothing to do with the story you're reading. It's an artifact of the way the stories are parsed, but it detracts from the overall presentation. Worse, the app will interrupt you with a dialog box that tells you you're very well-informed on a subject because you looked at more than one article on the topic. That's just silly and irritating. Thankfully, it can be turned off in the settings. The app can be used without setting up an account, which is how I use it. If you log in you, can share stories via Twitter, Facebook and Google. News360 has made some solid improvements. It seems more responsive, has a better UI and it's easier to target the kind of news you like. The app is a worthwhile addition to your arsenal of news apps, especially if you are looking for several points of view on a topic. This new version of News360 is for iPad only. The older version, which lacks the new features, is available for the iPhone and iPod touch. The new features will eventually migrate to the other versions. News360 requires iOS 4.0 or greater.
Daily iPad App: News360 2.0
I liked News360 when a reviewed it last April. It uses several sources for stories, and it was interesting to see the different takes on any single event. Of course News360 was also an excellent news discovery tool, scanning thousands of news sources to keep me up to date. One of the issues with News360 is you had no control over the sources. The app was basically static, and you got what you got. That's all changed in version 2 of this free app, released today. In a move toward personalization, News360 lets you input your Facebook, Twitter, Evernote and Google Reader accounts to seed the app with what news you are following and generate a unique mix of news that fits your interest. It's a good idea, and seems to work well. The more information it has about your reading habits, the better the presentation will be. The downside of all this is that it requires you having these accounts. No Facebook or Twitter account, for example, no personalized news. I think it's a mistake to go that direction. Many people are getting tired of some social media, especially Facebook because of privacy issues. I would have much preferred a GUI that lets me enter my interests or keywords. Going even deeper, the app could monitor what stories I look at and learn a lot about what I like that way. That's what my favorite news discovery tool Zite does, and Pulse News and Flipboard allow you to link to social media like Facebook but don't require it. The developers say that in an upcoming version, the social media links will no longer be required, and that's a positive step. This new version sports another excellent feature. Users can sync with news360.com and get their custom news without needing your iPad. Nice for office workers or others who want the benefits of the app and don't have or don't always carry an iPad. The app has some nice customization features. You can look at what's called an interest graph and edit it, so if it is bringing in things you don't want, you can whisk them away with a few clicks. The app also automatically provides links for more information, and, with your permission, it can use your location to get local news. I do like News360. It offers some fresh ideas for news aggregation, and the personalization is most welcome. I just wish it wasn't forcing me to to be on Facebook or some other system to find out what news I like. You don't have to personalize the app, and if you don't this version will work just like the older version, without user control of what you see. News360 is also available on the iPhone, but that version won't get personalization until Fall. %Gallery-130368%
News360 joins the iOS news party with some interesting features
I've commented that news reading apps for iOS are surging, especially, it seems, as more big news brands put content behind paywalls. As a pretty dedicated news junkie I'm delighting in all the creative apps that are scouring the web for worthwhile morsels of news, and serving it all up in a dedicated place. I've already praised Zite, which looks at half a million websites and delivers news that it determines you are interested in by keeping track of what you click on. I've spent a couple days now using News360, from Russian developers whose specialty has been semantic analysis, fact extraction and text classification. Those are big words that describe using artificial intelligence to get you relevant material. News360 is far more focused on just news than some of the other apps, and looks at about a thousand mainstream websites and delivers stories in selected topics, while at the same time offering related stories from other trusted news sources. %Gallery-120730%
