blog360°Musings From the News360° Team

Hi all!  The News360 team has been tinkering away under the hood of our app and we’ve got some exciting things in store for you coming due.  In the meantime, I wanted to revisit our Guide to News360 series of posts.  Specifically, I wanted to discuss one of my favorite News360 gems—the ability to view a story’s progression.

Have you ever read a story and wished you could follow further developments in a more natural way than having to wait for a new article to appear or actually going in and searching yourself?  Well, if you’re like me (and all the cool people are), you’ll be interested in the story timeline in News360.  This feature is currently available for News360 on the web and for our tablet apps.  Per usual, I will demonstrate through News360 on the web.

Let’s take a look at it in action, now…  This past weekend saw the first part of the always popular Coachella Music Festival (full-name The Coachcella Valley Music and Arts Festival) take place in California.  If you haven’t already heard, they resurrected infamous American rapper Tupac Shakur on stage as a hologram, which resulted in him becoming one of the most popular acts during the weekend (not to mention the most talked about in news headlines).

After opening up the main story cluster regarding Tupac at Coachcella, we see the numerous tabs across the top of the story directing us to articles at various sources covering his appearance at the festival.  At the end, you’ll notice a graph icon and a tab listing out the number of additional sources—click this to bring up the timeline of this story.

You can now examine the story as it has progressed in the news media (and how Tupac’s ghost engulfed the press for a bit).  For this story, we start at the first reports of the deceased rapper’s hologram appearing on stage and wowing the crowd, which then leads to speculation that the hologram may go on tour, followed by reactions from fellow artists and Tupac’s own mother, eventually bringing us to stories revolving around the hologram technology that has brought him back to life.

Anyway…   The News360 story timeline is a great tool to help you follow the progression of a story.  It comes in very handy when you’re following court cases, large-scale disaster updates, or the launch of new tech gadgets.  Give it a try and it might just make your life a little easier.

The conclusion of Social Media Week around the world is upon and in its honor, today we’re looking at the sharing features of News360.  Societies, cultures, and economies are becoming more integrated and empowered through communication, as SMW puts it.  News is no exception to this, particularly because of its social quality.  Communicating through sharing on social networks helps to spread knowledge—a great reason why News360 works so well with social media.

As with our previous posts in this series, we will use News360 on the Web because it is the most accessible to everyone.  Before we begin, make sure you’ve already signed into your personalized News360 account.

I was in San Francisco today for SMW activities, and it seems so was President Obama.  While in town for fundraising purposes for the 2012 Presidential Elections, Obama managed to sneak in a visit to Chinatown to grab some dim sum for lunch.  This popped up in my personalized “US Politics” category as a top story (check out our earlier post to help you personalize your interests, too).  Let’s click onto the cluster to read more about it.

You’ll notice that in the upper-right, there is a specific button that calls you to “Share This Story.”  If you find stories interesting or enjoyed it, why not share?  Chances are others in your networks have similar interests and will enjoy it as well.  Clicking on the button will give you a number of options including Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and e-mail.

You could, for example, share this article with your friends on Facebook.  Assuming you’ve connected your News360 account with your Facebook account, click “Post on Facebook” and a pop-up will appear allowing you to share the story on your wall.  Make sure to add any comments or interesting additions you may have and that will call out your friends to read the story, as well.

On the other hand, let’s say you want to share with a social media network that you haven’t connected to you News360 account.  This time, you may want to tweet this article to the world instead.  Clicking “Tweet” will bring up a pop-up asking you to authorize News360 to use your Twitter account—as always, we don’t copy or store any of your personal data.  After authorization, a new window will allow you to tweet the article with a link (hopefully you can squeeze some thoughts into that 140 character limit, too).  The same procedure follows for Google+, while sharing by e-mail allows you to share through your default e-mail program.

Interested to see who else is talking about Obama on the Twitterverse that might not be using News360?  No worries.  You’ll notice that the first tab along the top for the cluster is in fact a Twitter bird icon.  Clicking it will show you who else is discussing Obama’s visit to the San Francisco (specifically for a dim sum lunch).  This is your chance to “Join the Conversation.”  Popular hashtags are pre-populated for your convenience in order for your voice to be heard in the right conversation.  This is your chance to have your say, give your thoughts, or share your ideas.  You also have the option to add a link to the story from your favorite source in the cluster.

It won’t be long before you’ll be a social media whiz using News360!  Sharing the right stories and articles will help you build a following.  And before you know it, you’ll be an influencer to all those followers!  And to think, all this because of the news you enjoy reading everyday on News360.  Off you go—share, share, SHARE!

Now onto the news reading…

Super Bowl XLVI is just around the corner!  Many are experiencing football fever and want to stay on top of all the stories leading up to one of the biggest annual sporting events in the US.  The problem?  If you’re a fair-weather fan or not a big football buff, maybe all you want are the best headlines and developments to impress your colleagues at the “water cooler.”  The good news?  News360 has a simple way to create a fully customized category that will filter 100,000 articles every day to show you the highest quality reporting on any subject in real time.

Today, I’ll show you how to add (and remove) additional topics to your already personalized News360 account.  This way, you can find the news you need and want right now using News360 on the Web. Once you create the category, you’ll be able to read the sync the stream to appear across all your devices including smartphones and tablets.

Before we start, let’s quickly go over some key points regarding this year’s Super Bowl.  The teams playing this year are the New England Patriots and the New York Giants—the winner will be crowned the National Football League (NFL) champion.  If you’re following along with the news, you’ve probably noticed that an inordinate amount of stories focus on the team quarterbacks.  (QB’s are always given greater import than nearly ever other position, that’s just football.)  In this year’s big game we have two of the biggest names in football: the human dreamboat known as Tom Brady for the Pats and “little bro” Eli Manning for the Giants.  (Trivia fans: Eli’s brother Peyton is considered by many to be the best quarterback of all time. – he plays for the Indianapolis Colts.)

So why is this year’s Super Bowl drawing so much hype?  It’s a rematch for both teams and quarterbacks, who went head to head in Super Bowl XLII in 2008.  Then, the Giants won a nail-biter against the Pats 38-35 on a hope-and-a-prayer deep pass from Eli Manning.  Late in the fourth quarter of that game, Little Bro Eli spun away from a fierce New England blitz and heaved the ball deep into the night–the country held it’s collective breathe for what seemed like minutes–until little-known Giants receiver David Tyree came down with the ball wedged tightly against his helmet.  With the play forever known as “the helmet catch” Super Bowl XLII became an instant classic.

With a history like that, Super Bowl XLVI is full of interesting characters and team dynamics, and  just as many compelling stories about the big game.  News360 can make it easy to keep up with all the latest; here’s how:

Now let’s get going.  First thing—make sure you’re signed into your account.

As you can see, I already have a “Sports” category in my personalized interests.  Before we look in there, we’re going to explore creating a unique category listing just for the Super Bowl.  Simply click “Add New Category” under “My Interests” and a box should appear at the top of your feed.  Here you have the option to customize this interest with your own title and add only the objects you want to receive news about.

I’m going to call this “Super Bowl” and use the trophy icon to identify the category.  Next step is to start adding objects related to the game that I want to receive news about.

Hit the “More” icon.  A pop-up box will appear allowing you to search and add more topics.  I’m going to search for the basics and start populating—New England Patriots, New York Giants, Tom Brady and Eli Manning.  The game is being played at the Lucas Oil Stadium, so I’ll also add Indianapolis, Indiana (where it is located).  Just to keep track of everything, I’ll add national anthem singer Kelly Clarkson and halftime performer Madonna. Once you’ve added all the topics you want, exit out of the pop-up, review your added objects, and hit “Done” to populate news in your customized interest category!

Note: Keep in mind, you may have to go back to remove or add topics until you find your perfect balance.  For instance, adding Clarkson and Madonna may give you too much coverage on music news rather than Super Bowl specific.

Once the Super Bowl is over, you may have no need to have a category based on Super Bowl XLVI, so it can easily be removed.  First, hit the gear icon next to “My Interests,” and then hit the “X” next to Super Bowl XLVI.  “Are you sure you want to remove this category?”  Yes.

Remember, you may already have a “Sports” category and while you don’t want to follow the Super Bowl year-round, you may want to follow your favorite team.  If you like the New England Patriots, you can click on your “Sports” section, allow the feed to load, and then click the “Edit” icon on the top.  Like before, hit “More” to search for additional topics like the Patriots to add to your more stable categories such as “Sports.”

We’ll be back with more tips on News360 soon enough.  In the meantime, enjoy the big game this weekend (the News360 team will)!

Now onto the news reading…

There are an unlimited number of applications and tools out there that many people may download and use, but most times not to the full extent.  Have you had the chance to unlock all the potential of News360, yet?  In case you haven’t, I’m here to help.  Over a number of coming posts, I will be showing you how to get started with News360, personalizing it for your tastes, and sharing what you find interesting with your friends and followers.  By the end of the series, you should be an expert at using

Today we’re going to keep things easy.  To demonstrate, we’ll work with News360 on the Web—which you can use from any browser on your desktop, notebook, or just about anywhere else.  You can of course access this by going to news360.com (information on all versions of our app can be found here.)

Activating News360 on any platform already allows you see the aggregation of stories from across the web using a vast number of sources whether it be Top Stories, Business or Sports (read more about the technology behind selecting our sources and stories here)—but there’s more to it…

First thing—if you haven’t already signed up for an account, you should!  Creating a News360 account will allow you to save articles on any version of the applications and read them on any of the other platforms you may be using.  For example, if you save an article with News360 on the Web, you’ll be able to read it later on the News360 iPhone app once you sign into your account.  To start, click the “Create Account” button.  Choose your method and follow the on-screen instructions.  For those who have already created an account, click the “Sign In” button.

Great!  Now you can see all the news you want, but let’s make things a little more personal.  You want to see the news that’s relevant to you, so let’s hit “Personalize.”  Pick a network, if not all, to “Connect” with and tailor the news to your needs.  Once your account is connected, hit “Start” and watch the magic happen!

And not to worry—News360 will analyze the topics in your accounts, but will never store or copy any of your data that we analyze.  We’re only looking to build a list of relevant topics.

Next you will see all the interests News360 has found for you.  You are always allowed to edit all the topics you would like to keep, remove, or add.

After you’re done editing, hit “Finish,” and you’ve got your very own highly personalized news feed categorized for you under “My Interests” on the left.

In the coming posts, we’ll explore saving news articles to read later, sharing stories you find interesting through social networks, and customizing your interests further.  We’ll also take time to look at News360 across various platforms.

Now on to the news reading…