29/05/2014 Asia Business Report

He said it was four years ago. The Department of education says

discussions with the head teacher was a general policy discussion.

Time now for Asia Business Report. Sharing across industry, sounds and

called for an open form for developers of wearable technology.

`` Samsung. The potential economic fallout from the's plans to curb

Chinese tourists. Hello and welcome to Asia Business Report. I'm

Sharanjit Leyl in Singapore. Samsung has extended its portfolio of

wearable technology with a prototype wrist and it can be fitted with

third`party senses together a range of data about the wearer is health

and fitness. The tech giant unveiled its latest innovation at an event in

San Francisco where it also made a push for an open system among rival

companies. To help get products to consumers quicker. Our technology

correspondent was at the event. Samsung diving headlong into the

digital health arena. They have had a couple of Flores in the past. An

announcement was made this morning, I enjoyed by the president of

Samsung. The concept in simple terms, what is it readily is not a

consumer product, it is a development platform. It is a

platform that enables other centre companies to take advantage of it.

One of the issues which I thought is that if you look at typical wearable

technology, it is a start up and many art trying to figure out how to

make a watch. We want to change the whole equation. We want to create a

development platform where they can focus on their expertise and solving

problems. They can help us no more a about our technology. You showed us

some videos of people explaining how they needed six improve their

health. They are interested for a little bit of time but then they go,

OK I will keep eating my burgers and fries and my lifestyle will not

change. I actually have several of those in my drawer so I am a typical

example. Partly because... It was because I didn't care, it is more to

do with it was not developed for what I was doing. It was not

accurate. I think we are in the early stages of a revolution of

wearable, sensory devices. As technology is getting better, they

will be more useful. How long will it be before we see products using

your platform on the market quicker we are hoping in 2015 there will be

many different solutions, adding to the many different markets. From

exercise and busiest... That Samsung event takes place one week before

rival Apple host it is conference and ventilation is high that Apple

has also been working on launching its own wearable devices. Speaking

of Apple, it is official that the company is eyeing musing streaming

service, Beats electronics. From New York, our correspondent takes a

closer look at the acquisition. Even before the deal was done, the

co`founder of Beats, doctor Dre, boasted about being a billionaire.

The first billionaire in hip`hop! He would be a billionaire just yet. His

net worth will be around $800 million. Still, it is a huge sum for

him and for Apple. This is the firm 's biggest acquisition yet. It is

paying $3 billion to buy Beats, the headphone maker and streaming music

service. Beats has the coolest executives, they have a great brand

and they have a rapidly growing consumer base, both for the hardware

and little suspicious. Apple is grabbing onto their coattails and

try to keep their own brand last. Beats is best known for its

headphones but for Apple, the real prize is the music streaming

service. For the past decade, Apple's I choose has dominated the

little music. That was in the download era. These days, it is all

about streaming. Even though Apple broke into streaming last September

with iTunes radio, the company missed a beat and is now playing

catch up. Apple hopes to make sweet music with Beats but did it overpay?

With $150 billion in cash, it is a risk Apple can easily afford. The

tech giant will properly argue, it can't put a price on cool. In other

news, people are spending less in Japan after the company hiked its

sales tax in April. Governor data this morning shows that retail sales

fell by 4.4% in April from a year earlier. That is a fast decline

since the March 2011 earthquake. Most countries around the world are

falling over themselves to try and attract Chinese tourists. But Hong

Kong is looking at ways to produce the number of mainland Chinese

visitors. Last year, 40 million mainlanders visited the territory.

That is an increase of 17% from 2012 stop the baulk were individuals

travelling on multiple entry permits. Currently, visitors from 49

Chinese cities can obtain these permit if officials decide to reduce

this number, there are worries that the's economy will suffer. Our

correspondent in Hong Kong explains why the government is contemplating

a limit. It is inspected to grow to 45 million, up 11% from last year.

60% come just for the day. These are the kind of tourist that locals are

really not liking. They come just for the day, just to shop. They do

not stay in hotels or patronise the restaurants. They tend to come and

go. They tend to also congregate in certain areas. That is why every

week, we have been seeing protest against mainland tourists. There is

speculation that this cut in tourism might be as much as 20%. What impact

will that have on Hong Kong's economy. The chief executive

confirmed that only one of several options that they are looking at. It

has not been confirmed that these cuts will happen. We saw a response

in terms of the shares of companies in retail, finance, property. Some

of those shares have recovered somewhat. It is true that 200,000

people in retail in the tourism sector rely on visitors for their

jobs. An enormous cut in the number of people coming in would affect the

economy. There was one investment bank that suggested that the retail

sector could actually be down as much as 7% from cuts. If you live in

Asia, you will know all about the king of fruits, the durian. It is

the smell that many people object to others hate the taste. It is big

business as well. 23,000 tons were imported in Singapore a loan. A can

cost as much as $30 each. Correspond went to the streets of Singapore.

You join me in the biggest area of Singapore. Lots of different market

stall. This is one of the main ones. I can tell you that the smell is

incredible. It is quite hard to describe, it is almost a mixture of

bright mangoes and garlic. Known as the king of fruits, it provokes

reactions of disgust or addiction. Today, the durian still divides

opinion. Not too bad. Thumbs up! Taste a bit awful. Is good.

Delicious. It is an acquired taste but I have to give it goes. `` go.

Wow. That is strong. Never tasted anything like that. In credible.

Kind of overriding garlic taste but I have to say, there is something

about it that is a bit of it Moorish. Trading in the king of

fruit is serious business and in Singapore, the industry is worth an

estimated $230 million. For this man, that is good news. His family

has traded in the fruit for decades and his business attracts customers

from all over the world. My customers are from Germany, from

Australia, sometimes they think the smell is too strong. But then some

love it. They will come in three times a day or week to come here and

have durian. With demand in the fruit increasing across Asia, for

once, fans can afford to turn their noses up at McAree `` durian

sceptics. That is it for Asia Business Report. Thanks for

watching. In an interview with NBC, Edward

Snowden has claimed he was trained as a spy, not just as an analyst.

President Obama is out his vision for a different kind of foreign

policy with less emphasis on US military intervention.