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Mobile apps ad partnership spikes Twitter stock price

Lucy | February 5, 2015

The micro-blogging social network has taken a heavy focus on advertising on smartphones and tablets.

Twitter experienced a considerable jump in its stock price – initially leaping by over 6 percent – when it announced that it would be adding promoted tweets on third party mobile apps, as well as smartphone friendly websites, as a part of a broader advertising distribution program that it has now launched.

This new mobile advertising strategy is designed to help to broaden the reach of the social network’s ads.

This will allow Twitter to be able to reach into other mobile apps and websites in order to place ads in front of a much larger number of viewers. It will expand the number of potential ad viewers well beyond the 284 million estimated users who actively use the micro-blogging service every month. The first partners that have joined with Twitter in this advertising program include Yahoo Japan and the Flipboard newsreader app.

There are already thousands of brands that advertise on Twitter and they could now benefit from ads on additional mobile apps.

According to a post that Twitter added to its official blog, “For the thousands of brands already advertising on Twitter, these new partnerships open a significant opportunity to extend the reach of their message to a larger audience.”

This announcement was made very shortly before the financial results for the fourth quarter were announced by the company. The stock price has been facing some considerable pressure over the last while. In fact, when compared to its 52 week high point that brought it to $67.24, it has faced a drop of a whopping 40 percent. This meant that the 6.5 percent increase that it saw at the initial announcement of its new third party advertising partnerships was an especially welcome change from the direction that it had been taking.

This is believed to be only the start of the partnerships that will be forming between Twitter and various mobile apps and websites around the world. It will be interesting to watch as new applications come aboard and to view the impact that this will have on the stock price over time.

Could wearable technology be the next anti-anxiety treatment?

Lucy | February 2, 2015

A new form of headset may be able to lower anxiety levels better than drugs, caffeine, or alcohol.

A new type of wearable technology from Thync, which comes in the form of an electronic headset, is being designed to be able to reduce the tension that people feel in their bodies so that their stress and anxiety levels can safely, rapidly, and effectively be lowered.

This headset involves the attachment of two small electrodes to the temple and back of the neck with a gentle adhesive.

The wearable technology device must currently be worn for 16 minutes and, according to Sumon Pal, the executive director of the neuroscience startup based in Los Gatos, California, the majority of people begin to feel a reduction in their body tension. This results in greater thought focus and clarity, which slows the breathing and causes the thoughts that would typically cause anxiety to rise to become less impactful.

This wearable technology gadget is currently in prototype form and is controlled by an app.

Wearable Technology to help with anxiety The device produces a type of “vibe” that makes its way through the brain and eases the body. More specifically, it uses transcranial direct stimulation (tDCS), for the triggering of specific brain responses, in order to generate the sensation of serenity and calm, or to boost focus and energy, when needed.

The purpose of these wearables from Tync is not to change the biology of the brain, but is, instead, to offer an individual an improved control over his or her focus, energy, and calm, in a way that is not available through natural pathways. This, according to Jamie Tyler, the chief science officer of the company.

Tyler explained that “Coffee, alcohol, drugs; these are all neuro-enhancers,” adding that “You’re already modifying your brain activity.” However, Thync is hoping to use wearable technology to improve the control that individuals have in those areas so that they can more quickly and effectively manage them in a way that coffee, energy drinks, alcohol, and pharmaceuticals simply cannot. Considering the size of those markets, at the moment, if these wearables could manage to produce similar – but more controllable – effects, there is considerable potential for the company and its creations.