The Google New mobile app received an update today, that was announced at the Google I/O Conference.  If you are a news hound then Google News is probably something you visit frequently.  And now, it just got better on your phone or tablet.  According to Google:

“Location-based news first became available in Google News in 2008, and today there’s a local section for just about any city, state or country in the world with coverage from thousands of sources. We do local news a bit differently, analyzing every word in every story to understand what location the news is about and where the source is located.”

If your phone tracks your location, and most do, then you can easily build a local new feed on your phone.  To get started you will have to visit Google News from your Android or iOS device.  A pop-up will ask you to share your location.  Just say “yes” and the local news will auto-populate.  You will then receive a “news near you” link at the bottom of you home page.  You can turn off the feature at any time hiding the section in your personalization settings or by adjusting your mobile browser settings.

This update adds a nifty “local” aspect to Google News that has been lacking since launch.  It’s a great way to keep up-to-date with what is going on around you.  Google News has continued to improve since launch, despite threats from high-powered news orginaztions such as Ruppert Murdoch’s empire.  Now they are muscling in on the territory of local papers and networks to go one step beyond.