19/06/2014 World Business Report

BBC World News. Now for the latest financial news,

and World Business Report. Let's go over to Sally.

A new perspective on the smartphone, or just a gimmick? Amazon bets on 3D

as it takes on the giants of the handset market.

Plus, a new record close on Wall Street as the Federal Reserve

reassures investors that the US recovery is on track.

Welcome to World Business Report. Also in the programme, London's

future as a training hub for the Chinese currency, we hear from one

of China's top bankers. But first, it is dominating online retailing,

its Kindle device has made inroads into the world of tablets, but can

Amazon really take on Apple and Samsung in the fiercely competitive

smartphone market? On Wednesday at an event in Seattle the company

unveiled the handset it hopes will do just that. It's called the Fire

Phone ` the most striking difference about it is a 3D display that works

by detecting your head movements. Will it shake up the market? From

Seattle, Richard Taylor sends this report.

Disrupting again, the Amazon founder had promised us something a bit

different, and, within minutes, he delivered. I hope that you guys have

as much fun using this phone as we had building it. Here it is, the new

Amazon Firephone, it looks like a standard smart phone with a decent

back camera, 13 megapixels, and what is more interesting is the forefront

cameras here. They are infrared, meaning the phone can track my

facial movements and my eyes. As a result, the handset adjusts my view

of the screen to give an impressive 3`D effect which Amazon is calling

"dynamic perspective" . Application developers can use at a number of

ways, for example, when browsing on a map to reveal information or when

shopping on the Amazon store `` use it in a number of ways. It has also

created firefly, which recognises 100 million objects, or products,

because it can provide a seamless way for users to link to the

retailer itself. It will stand out, it is very different. It can be seen

as innovative or a gimmick. There were other features like the May Day

live help feature, but the aim is to ensure that Amazon is growing empire

is front and centre of our everyday interactions. The goal is to provide

great products, first and foremost, and we think that using these

phones, our customers can enjoy the music and services we offer. It is

bringing a unique perspective to the smart phone market, but it is an

arena where other established technology players have fallen. Only

two, Apple and Samsung, make real money. The boss spoke of the

challenges of developing the Firephone over several years. You

cannot help feeling that his greatest challenge lies ahead

still. What do you think? Send us in your thoughts on Twitter.

We are having a conversation about it at the moment. Now, let's talk

about Wall Street. Traders have been celebrating yet another record day

for the stock market. The S 500 index closed at

1,956.98, beating its record set on June ninth to set a new all time

closing high. A wider index of global markets, the

MSCI, also closed at a record high.This might seem a strange

reaction given the Federal Reserve cut the stimulus money it pumps into

the economy again. It also cut US growth forecasts for this year. But

in her comments, Fed chief Janet Yellen seemed to be in no rush to

raise interest rates. She was pretty upbeat. Let's see how the comments

are going down in Asia. Rico Hizon is in our Singapore studio.

Good to see you. I am assuming Asia is following suit? Absolutely, yes

indeed. A lot of optimism here in the regional markets, from Japan,

Hong Kong, South Korea, Australia, two pieces of good news. For Asian

investors. There was a positive assessment of the economy, low

interest rates in the long`term. Asian central banks will likely keep

them cost of money low, that will prop up the economy without high

interest rates from the US. And in improving American economy, which

trend. That would help the export trend. That would help the export

driven economies, like China, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, the

Philippines. Consumers here by cars, electronic gadgets, garments,

and food from Asia. It is positive for Asian traders `` buy. Thank you

very much. From today China will start allowing

its currency, the Yuan or renminbi, to be traded directly with the

British pound for the first time. In the past, British and Chinese firms

doing business with each other had to change their money into US

dollars first. China Construction Bank will set up a clearing bank for

renminbi, known as RMB, transactions here in London, the first outside

Asia. Our Business Editor Kamal Ahmed spoke to its Chairman, Wang

Hongzhang. He started by asking him about

London's importance as a currency trading centre.

TRANSLATION: London is a important financial centre, looking at its

history, the internationalisation of many currencies started there. What

does it tell us about the liberalisation of China and the

approach to the Western world? The buildup of London as a centre of R

and B is an inevitable step, China is the second largest economy in the

world `` RMB. It has boosted the cross`border settlement of RMB.

Could China construction bank look at investing in infrastructure in

the UK, like high speed two, or nuclear power? We are actively

following any opportunities abroad with rapidly economic growth between

China and the UK. And we recommend to our clients the best ways to

establish operations in the UK. We spare no effort in providing

financing to facilitate enterprises in the UK and China. Chinese banks

are very big, well capitalised, do you think banks established here

have anything to worry about? The development of China's banks in the

West? I don't think this worry is well grounded. During my visits to

the UK, I spoke to many chairmen and CEOs of British banks. None

expressed worries or concerns about CCB surpassing them in the local

market. It is a big bank in China, but the proportion of overseas

operations is quite low. We have a five`year plan for those operations

and we plan to establish a network abroad by 2015, and we aim to have

the local economies we have set up in. How important is it to Chinese

investment in the UK that Britain remains a member of the European

Union? I am no expert on this, it has not been my focus. You are going

to have a referendum, so the people will have the final say, we are

living in an age of globalisation, and the relationships between

countries have been closer and closer, whether the UK is in the EU

or not, that will do no home to trade and economic ties. `` harm. If

the UK stays in the EU or not, it will not have any impact on

relations between the UK and China economically.

In other news: The boss of General Electric will unveil an improved

offer for part of French engineering giant Alstom later today, according

to several reports. GE is trying to buy Alstom's power business in a

near`17 billion dollar deal, but is facing rival bids by Siemens of

Germany and Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Alstom's board is due to

announce its decision by Monday. The chief executive of Sony Kazuo

Hirai, says he's not thinking of splitting off or floating company's

entertainment business. He was responding to a question at the

company's annual shareholder meeting. Sony rejected a proposal

last year by a hedge fund investor to split the company. Mr Hirai did

admit that Sony had been too slow to react to tough conditions for its

electronics division ` which he has failed to make profitable despite

pledging to do so when he took over two years ago.

Time for the markets. They are all heading higher. Except in South

Korea, down slightly by 0.1%. A record high for the S 500.

Oil prices remain sensitive to what is happening in Iraq. And remaining

runners nine`month highs. See you soon. `` at those nine`month highs.

Health News for you now. The Prime Minister is set to announce more

investment in dementia research today. But it comes as the

specially`appointed World Dementia Envoy described the disease as a

'ticking bomb' and that progress with research has been 'achingly

slow'. Dr Dennis Gillings says the pledge made by G8