03/03/2017 World Business Report

Nintendo's new device goes on sale around the world but can it convince

Plus the gadgets Google wants every home to have.

We hear from the company's new hardware boss.

In a minute we'll talk about the currency that's become

We start in Japan on a huge day for computer

It starts selling its latest device - the Switch.

It's kind of hybrid machine - combining a home console

And it's safe it say it is a massive gamble for Nintendo,

which is trying to recapture its glory days as a games company

Some are even calling it "make or break".

Gaming is very big business and growing fast.

According to consultants newzoo sales will top $100 billion

Gaming on mobile devices - mostly smartphones -

will take the biggest share this year, with estimated sales

That will put it ahead of home consoles and PCs for the first time.

It's something Nintendo knows only too well.

Ten years ago its Wii console took the world by storm.

We bought 100 million of them Nintendo tried to repeat the success

with the Wii U in 2012 but it has been a complete flop.

Now compare that to big craze of last year, the mobile phone game

Half a billion people downloaded it and sales hit almost a $1 billion

To add insult to injury, most of the profits went

to the game's developers, who licensed the characters from

So is the Switch the answer to Nintendo's problems?

The machine's a bit complicated - here's how the company explains it.

The Switch is a videogame system for the home. You can attach it to the

TV to play games. When you want to play away from the TV, you remove

the switch from the dock. When you attach the left and right

controllers, you can continue playing anywhere. Nintendo switch

has been designed to be a home console system which gives you the

freedom to change your play style.. Jon Porter is the Home Technology

Writer for the website Tech Radar. You have brought one in, I gather

you have a play with it. What did you make of it? I think it would be

a mistake to say this is another Wii. It was a very good mainstream

consumer device. This is a very competent gaming machine. If you are

already in the games, this is a very solid launch but I do not think it

will reach the same appeal as the Wii. Are they trying to do too much

by combining the mobile and home console? Historically, Nintendo has

always had its home consoles, it's GameCube is, and then it's hand-held

devices. What this does is bring those two does Barrett sides of its

business into one so hopefully you imagine the company wants to focus

its energy on one piece of hardware and it is a much easier sell to

people because you are not selling them to pieces of electronics. There

is a lot riding on this because after the success of Wii, the Wii U

sold only 13 million which was a big drop off. It suffered from an

unusual form factor. Nintendo always try something new and it is true

here as well. The second screen was very difficult for developers to get

their heads around. You needed another consul. With the Nintendo

Switch, it has a much more traditional controller method and

that is going to encourage more developers to bring their titles to

this machine because there is not a lot of work to do to fit it. Will it

work? I think it is a solid start. Over the next couple of years it

will come down to the games and that support they get from the community.

If games aren't your thing, how about a gadget that can

play your music, answer your questions,

Google's Home is a voice activated digital assistant

that the company hopes will become a central hub for all the technology

It's currently only available in the US

but it will be available here and in other countries

Google's head of hardware has been speaking to the BBC's

Rory Cellan Jones about the importance of the gadget

We have been building consumer electronics for many years but over

the past year we decided to focus our efforts we could build cutting

edge technology for home use. It is somewhat behind Amazon with its

echo, wind will Google Home be a hit? We have a huge hit the lead in

the knowledge it, Google Home brings these great technology to users. The

strength of Google has been getting answers for our consumers. That all

comes together with Google Home you could get really good answers. He

got into smart phones as well. What is the strategy there? It is a

mature business but it was time for us to enter and push the edge on

innovation. They are all about collecting data. How worried should

users be about their privacy? We make sure we protect users and data

and some of this information is used to make products are better but

first it is all was an important balance that uses trust us. We are

here at the world Congress with manufacturers from around the world

exhibiting. Is that the future for Google? We will dissipate in focus

Waze in the Schumer electronics. We are not out to have a very large

hardware product portfolio but places where there is a need for an

important innovation, we will definitely develop products and that

is the case in the smartphone business and in Google home product

where we felt it was important to build both our system capability and

hardware at the same time.. Let's stay with the world

of technology - because there's something of a milestone today

for the virtual currency Bitcoin. The price of one bitcoin has

overtaken the price of an ounce The answer lies in Asia. What is

going on? He would have thought that a crypto currency, one that is

regulated by any government in the world would exceed the price of an

ounce of gold. That's right, gold has was being seen as a safe haven

of choice, it is now got company and it is Bitcoin which is trading at

$1270 while an ounce of gold is going for $1230. The price of

Bitcoin has been rising of the last couple of weeks. Investors are

looking to edge against potential global uncertainties related to a

certain policies by Donald Trump and Brexit. The Trump administration

might potentially relax regulations governing the digital currency. That

is what a lot of analysts are saying. Currently does not regulated

by any government. It is being used by consumers worldwide to try to

shield assets from inflation all political upheaval. This is a 360

degrees turn around when the value of Bitcoins slumped so badly three

years ago and it was written off as a failed experiment.

Asian equity markets fell on Friday after a broad global rally,

but the dollar strengthened against most other currencies

as traders become increasingly confident the Federal Reserve

will hike interest rates this month.

Worth mentioning, snapped shares on their debut shed 44% but it wasn't

enough to keep the main indices on Wall Street in positive territory.

CSN. -- see you soon. Counting the ballots

of Northern Ireland's snap election Polls closed last night with final

results not expected to be confirmed