News that Finds You - BreakingNews.com's Proximity Alerts

Geolocation services are not new to smartphones, and place-based features have only improved over the years however in the battle for attention on your phone, Breaking News, a startup owned by NBC News, wants to win by finding smart ways to show you less. Today they debuted a new feature to their iOS app that pushes proximity-based news alerts when a big story breaks near a user’s physical location. Geo-targeted to mobile devices, the alerts highlight major stories that are relevant to people nearby, including significant earthquakes, tornadoes, wildfires, public safety alerts, evacuations and more.
Proximity alerts will also accompany users as they travel internationally. NBC says Breaking News is the first mobile app to offer the innovative service.
“In a world where news alerts are out of control, our mission is to deliver the breaking stories that are uniquely important to you,” said Cory Bergman, general manager of Breaking News. “Few things are as important as learning about a big breaking story that just happened near your location. Proximity alerts are lightning fast, and the service sets Breaking News apart as the go-to app to discover breaking stories that matter to you, wherever you are.” The app also includes the addition of a “Watchlist,” where users can easily track breaking news in their favorite interests in real time, as well as a new design, infinite scroll, simple navigation, faster search, and an improved iPad view.

The Breaking News app update is available today on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, and it will be available for Android devices soon. To download the Breaking News app for iOS, visit BreakingNews.com/apps. Also read their release - Introducing proximity alerts and much more in the new Breaking News iOS app

AT&T takes aim at Comcast with Direc TV Acquisition

AT+T may be on the verge of buying DirecTV for $50 million, which would be the largest in years and reshape the television business at a time of rapid change in the industry. Reports of rumors on the acquisition appeared all over the blogosphere today an a official announcement may be just weeks away. The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, reports the two companies are discussing a deal that would involve a mix of cash and AT&T stock. A combined AT&T-DirecTV would hold a vast swath of wireless spectrum, the public radio signals that make smartphones and tablets work and would also be better positioned to compete against the proposed Comcast/Time Warner combined entity.  The pact would be a way to expand its video offerings, which is similar to how the Comcast and Time Warner Cable deal could deliver. AT+T currently provides pay-TV service through its U-Verse brand. MORE: WSJ - 05/12/2014 -

AT&T Could Strike $50 Billion Deal for DirecTV, or

Bloomberg - 05/13/2014 - AT&T in Talks to Buy DirecTV for About $50 Billion

64% of U.S. Homes Have one or more CE Devices Connected to the Internet

According to a new research report from Parks Associates, (64%) of US broadband households have at least one consumer electronics device connected to the Internet, which could include a smart TV, Blu-ray player, game console, set-top box, a digital media receiver or Google Chromecast. Gaming consoles were found to be the most popular of connected devices. The report also noted that of the 50+% of U.S. households that use connected consumer electronics devices also subscribe to Netflix. By comparison, Amazon, which has made significant gains in the OTT video market this past year now has nearly 20 per cent of all US broadband households as Amazon Prime Instant Video subscribers.

Google Says YouTube Activity Impacts Television Viewing

Google is citing a new study tracking TV viewer interest over the course of the
year based on Google search and YouTube views. While Facebook and Twitter scramble to attract more TV advertisers to their platforms, Google also wants a bigger piece of the pie. It believes TV networks should view YouTube as a cornerstone of their marketing campaigns, an indispensable tool for speaking to younger viewers. According to the study, 90% of TV viewers also visit Google and YouTube and their online behavior is a clear indicator of a show’s popularity. More: MediaPost Search Marketing Daily 04/10/14 - Google Links Searches, YouTube To Television Viewing and The Wrap 04/10/14 - Like Facebook and Twitter, Google Tries to Prove TV Needs Its Help