Roger Fingas
Microsoft on Tuesday introduced News Pro, a news aggregator for both iPhones and the Web that takes a different tack thanks to its dependence on Bing News, and a focus on business-related topics instead of general interests.
When signing up, users can choose to personalize the iPhone app's content by logging in with a LinkedIn or Facebook account. People can also pick specific industries to follow — such as electronics, healthcare, design, or manufacturing — and further choose companies, topics, and products to track through Browse and Pilot tabs.
Stories support both likes and comments. For reading users can turn on Speedy Mode, which strips an article down so it loads faster, much like Pocket or SmartNews.
The Web version of the aggregator uses a different interface but carries over any preferences set in the iPhone app.
News Pro is an experimental effort by Microsoft Garage, and as such it's not clear if the app will come to other platforms like Android or the iPad.
The News Pro iPhone app is a free download and runs on iPhones with iOS 8 or later.
Charles Martin
Wesley Hilliard
Stephen Silver
William Gallagher
Marko Zivkovic
4 Comments
Yuk. What's with all these players who think they need to curate news for us?
If Microsoft gains traction with this, it will be another nail in the coffin of Google's search engine.
As it is, I have stopped using search all together for my news. I won't be using Microsoft's app, but it is nice to have the option.
I've stopped using Google for search years ago and all Google services except for the almost unavoidable YouTube.
This is worth a try because at least it's available in Canada ! Can't wait to try Apple News whenever or if ever it comes here.