Despite all the advances in location-based computing and smartphones, so far there has been very little done to take advantage of these technologies when it comes to the news we consume — in part because none of the traditional media companies have put much effort into it. But now one major news provider is experimenting with exactly that: according to a report at Quartz, Google (s goog) is testing a local news product as part of its Google Now service.

Christopher Mims, a writer with the Atlantic Media-owned business news site, says a Google staffer mentioned the beta test of location-based news during an interview with him recently about what new search products the company was working on, including aspects of its Google Now service. According to Johanna Wright, vice president of search and assist:

“One thing we’re testing right now is a very local hyper-local news card, which…