:00:00. > :00:00.This is Business Live from BBC News with Ben Thompson and Aaron
:00:07. > :00:17.Top technology firms unveil their latest gadgets
:00:18. > :00:26.for our cars, but is it enough to push their profits into top gear?
:00:27. > :00:36.Live from London, that's our top story on Wednesday, 6th January.
:00:37. > :00:39.Car manufacturers are also making moves to bring more tech
:00:40. > :00:49.The latest innovations are being highlighted at the big
:00:50. > :00:52.Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
:00:53. > :00:55.Also in the programme, North Korea says it has successfully
:00:56. > :00:59.We'll cross live to our Asia business hub to see how
:01:00. > :01:15.It is day three of the trading year and the volatility continues and we
:01:16. > :01:17.will find out if the volatility in January is going to set the tone for
:01:18. > :01:20.the rest of the year. We'll get the inside track
:01:21. > :01:28.on how public transport is reshaping our cities
:01:29. > :01:30.in an effort to cut pollution, and boost economic growth cities
:01:31. > :01:33.are spending record amounts But can they keep up
:01:34. > :01:36.with soaring demand? As reports suggest Twitter
:01:37. > :01:40.is about to ditch its 140 character limit, we want to know -
:01:41. > :01:42.will longer tweets ruin, Boss Jack Dorsey hints that future
:01:43. > :01:51.tweets could be as long as 10,000 characters, so let us
:01:52. > :02:01.know, good or bad? But please keep it brief please.
:02:02. > :02:04.Use the hashtag BBCBizLive. Technology gets smaller
:02:05. > :02:11.and smaller every year, but the future, apparently
:02:12. > :02:19.could be much bigger. As the Consumer electronics Show
:02:20. > :02:23.kicks off in Las Vegas later, it's the car makers that
:02:24. > :02:25.are stealing the headlines But rather than hand over control
:02:26. > :02:29.of the new gadgets and gismos to tech companies, car markers
:02:30. > :02:31.are doing it themselves, In an attempt to link apps
:02:32. > :02:41.to the car dashboard, Google has developed
:02:42. > :02:43.the Android Auto whilst Apple But on the eve of the CES opening,
:02:44. > :02:48.Toyota has decided to snub Instead it plans to use a technology
:02:49. > :02:53.originally developed by rival Ford Ford has said Google
:02:54. > :03:04.and Apple's offerings will be available in its 2017
:03:05. > :03:06.models but it will also Reportedly Peugeot, Honda and Mazda
:03:07. > :03:10.are all investigating whether they should adopt
:03:11. > :03:12.the SDL standard or go Martyn Briggs leads the Mobility
:03:13. > :03:31.team at Frost and Sullivan Good to see you. Aaron running
:03:32. > :03:34.through the issues there and what, I think, is so important is the way
:03:35. > :03:39.this divide is opening up. Previously everyone has been
:03:40. > :03:42.embracing the tech giants and say make your technology make our
:03:43. > :03:45.industry easier. The car firms are saying, we welcome you, but to a
:03:46. > :03:50.certain extent. We are not going to give away too much of our technology
:03:51. > :03:53.to let you come in and steal the lead. Traditionally car companies
:03:54. > :04:00.have been worried that they will lose the touch point with their
:04:01. > :04:03.customer, the H MI, the machine interface, they have realised they
:04:04. > :04:09.are not the dominant players anywhere with regards to consumer
:04:10. > :04:14.electronics and that's why they are at the CES in Las Vegas this week.
:04:15. > :04:19.They know you want to use your smartphone in the vehicle and they
:04:20. > :04:22.need to adapt. Google and Apple have their platforms already. Car firms
:04:23. > :04:25.are concerned if they prioritise one, you're going to end up with one
:04:26. > :04:29.smartphone that you have to choose that for the vehicle. Of course,
:04:30. > :04:33.vehicle manufacturing is a mass market game. They want to provide
:04:34. > :04:36.services for everyone. What's the slippery slope, I suppose, that
:04:37. > :04:40.those manufacturers are worried about, at the moment we are talking
:04:41. > :04:43.about in car entertainment, music systems and navigation systems, but
:04:44. > :04:46.there will be a time when we are talking about robotic cars and
:04:47. > :04:51.automatic vehicles and all of that thing and then we are getting into
:04:52. > :04:54.the meat of a car, the way it works and that's what they are not willing
:04:55. > :04:57.to hand over? Indeed. There is short-term and long-term issues to
:04:58. > :05:00.that. The short-term is that I guess, initially they need to make a
:05:01. > :05:04.lot of partnerships to make this happen. They need to make the right
:05:05. > :05:06.decisions today and as cars become more autonomous, the kind of
:05:07. > :05:10.partnerships they are making today to give away data on the vehicle,
:05:11. > :05:14.they are not sure whether they are safe to use these services in the
:05:15. > :05:17.vehicle itself and they have got to make sure firstly, it is safe for
:05:18. > :05:20.the customers and secondly, it is making the long-term business
:05:21. > :05:29.decisions that are right for the company. Google and Apple are
:05:30. > :05:35.reported to make their own autonomous vehicle. Can I just jump
:05:36. > :05:40.in here? Is it reasonable to think in the next few years this is going
:05:41. > :05:45.to happen? The attitude of us, right, the driver, I mean, we're
:05:46. > :05:49.happy to get into an aluminium tube or a plane and 80% of the flight is
:05:50. > :05:53.controlled by computers. We are uneasy about our cars being, you
:05:54. > :05:56.know, driven not by us! In the short-term, yes. There is so many
:05:57. > :06:00.uncertainties at the moment regards to regulation and of course, the
:06:01. > :06:07.consumer acceptance of this, but in the long-term, it is coming and you
:06:08. > :06:10.know, there is already some semi autonomous features, parking the
:06:11. > :06:14.vehicles and the most interesting thing that's happened this week is
:06:15. > :06:20.that GM with their investment in Lift a ride sharing company, a ride
:06:21. > :06:22.hailing company like Uber means they have said publicly this will lead to
:06:23. > :06:26.partnerships around autonomous vehicles and it is the first time
:06:27. > :06:30.they have made an announcement and it is getting a lot of buzz in the
:06:31. > :06:39.industry. Yes, one we will watch closely. Martyn, thank you.
:06:40. > :06:42.Some of the other stories making the news.
:06:43. > :06:45.Activity in China's services sector grew at the slowest pace in 17
:06:46. > :06:47.months in December, according to new data.
:06:48. > :06:49.China's services sector has been one of the few bright spots
:06:50. > :06:52.in the economy over the last year, helping to offset the slump
:06:53. > :07:01.Changes to Twitter could be on the way.
:07:02. > :07:04.The site's co-founder and boss has hinted that it may lift
:07:05. > :07:06.the 140 character limit, to allow much longer tweets.
:07:07. > :07:15.It's reported the social networking site may now allow users to tweet up
:07:16. > :07:17.the 140 character limit, to allow much longer tweets.
:07:18. > :07:20.It's reported the social networking site may now allow users to tweet up
:07:21. > :07:24.Chinese tech giant Huawei has just posted its latest set of numbers
:07:25. > :07:29.Strong smartphone sales led to revenue jumping by 70% last year
:07:30. > :07:35.with sales topping $20 billion worldwide.
:07:36. > :07:38.The firm said it shipped 108 million phones in 2015,
:07:39. > :07:40.attributing the growth to strong sales in China and Western Europe.
:07:41. > :07:46.The company's growth figures come as it launched its latest flagship
:07:47. > :08:05.We have been asking for your comments on Twitter. We have got a
:08:06. > :08:10.lot already. It is mixed your view on whether it is good news or bad
:08:11. > :08:14.news for the social networking site. I want to take you to the Business
:08:15. > :08:20.Live page. Two stories that caught our attention this morning. Shares
:08:21. > :08:23.in the UK chip designer has fallen. Apple reported that it might cut
:08:24. > :08:27.back production of the latest iPhone during the quarter. Firms that
:08:28. > :08:30.supply parts of it understandably worried. Their shares down this
:08:31. > :08:33.morning. News from the European Central Bank in an era where we are
:08:34. > :08:37.talking about the cost of borrowing rising perhaps in America.
:08:38. > :08:40.Certainly, the Fed Reserve firing the starting gun to raise interest
:08:41. > :08:45.rates there and speculation about when the UK may follow suit, Europe
:08:46. > :08:51.keen to point out low interest rates are there to stay until inflation
:08:52. > :08:56.starts to rise. We had inflation yesterday, the European, pretty much
:08:57. > :09:00.the same. Pretty flat. US jobs numbers this Friday. That's a key
:09:01. > :09:05.indicator for any decision. Again, another decision from the US Fed on
:09:06. > :09:24.whether it will continue to raise rates.
:09:25. > :09:27.Let's return to one of our breaking stories this morning -
:09:28. > :09:30.news that North Korea says it has successfully tested a hydrogen bomb
:09:31. > :09:32.which, if confirmed, would be its fourth nuclear
:09:33. > :09:35.Mariko Oi is at our Asia Business hub in Singapore.
:09:36. > :09:37.What impact has this had on the financial markets?
:09:38. > :09:44.The biggest impact has been on the South Korea market. Not even before,
:09:45. > :09:48.not even waiting for the official confirmation by the State news
:09:49. > :09:55.agency in North Korea just after that man-made earthquake was
:09:56. > :10:00.detected, the South Korea markets started to fall sharply and shares
:10:01. > :10:03.ended the day in the red. That's despite the authorities reassuring
:10:04. > :10:08.investors that this would have very limited impact on the markets and
:10:09. > :10:12.the economy. One sector bucking the trend is the companies making
:10:13. > :10:17.defence products and their shares have been surging. I should say
:10:18. > :10:21.though that the markets reacted in a similar manner following previous
:10:22. > :10:28.nuclear tests by North Korea, but the impact was weak at most. As for
:10:29. > :10:33.other regional markets, Japan's Nikkei fell after this potential
:10:34. > :10:37.nuclear test in North Korea. Good on you, we will talk to you soon. I'm
:10:38. > :10:40.ready to go. I have got a new battery in!
:10:41. > :10:43.The Nikkei in Tokyo down again, for a third straight session,
:10:44. > :10:46.as exporters were hit by a strong yen after North Korea said it
:10:47. > :10:51.In fact all of this compounded by the worries about China's economy
:10:52. > :10:56.It's all happening - not a great start to
:10:57. > :11:02.We'll find out shortly if this volatile January will set the tone
:11:03. > :11:19.Europe keeping its eyes very closely on the China story.
:11:20. > :11:23.And also Beijing today announcing it will not lift that trading ban
:11:24. > :11:35.That was supposed to be lifted this Friday,
:11:36. > :11:39.Let's head over and find out what should be making the business
:11:40. > :11:50.America's Central Bank raised interest rates for the first time in
:11:51. > :11:54.nearly a decade. Investors lob looking for clues about the path of
:11:55. > :11:58.future rate rises. On the jobs front, we will get the ADP national
:11:59. > :12:04.employment report and it is forecast to reveal US employers added 198,000
:12:05. > :12:13.jobs in December. This is ahead of the official monthly jobs report
:12:14. > :12:17.which is due out this Friday and Monsanto releases results. The
:12:18. > :12:21.agriculture giant is expected to report a 16% drop in sales. Among
:12:22. > :12:29.the problems, foreign currency swings and falling prices.
:12:30. > :12:31.Tom Stevenson is Investment Director at Fidelity Worldwide Investments
:12:32. > :12:42.First week of January and the markets not doing anything exciting.
:12:43. > :12:46.You have got interesting figures about how this will shape out for
:12:47. > :12:51.the year. In your crystal ball, looking at what January means, a
:12:52. > :12:54.dire January, and how it will shape up for the rest of the year. There
:12:55. > :12:59.is an old adage about January setting the tone for the rest of the
:13:00. > :13:03.year. So I went back and had a look to see whether it actually worked. I
:13:04. > :13:09.went back until the start of the FTSE 100 which was 30 years ago now
:13:10. > :13:14.and in that period, 19 out of 30 times the FTSE 100 has risen in
:13:15. > :13:20.January and in 15 of those 19 times, it has continued to rise between
:13:21. > :13:24.February and December. It looks more than just chance and so it is a
:13:25. > :13:29.guide, but interestingly when it goes the other way, when the market
:13:30. > :13:34.falls in January, then it is much less clear cut. It is a coin toss as
:13:35. > :13:38.to whether it works. What will it take to turn around the fortunes? We
:13:39. > :13:42.are looking at the year and there is not a lot to get excite abouted it,
:13:43. > :13:46.we are talking about maybe interest rates creeping up in the US, a
:13:47. > :13:50.slowdown in China, there is nothing for us to get our teeth into, to
:13:51. > :13:54.think that 2016 is an exciting year for the markets? There is always
:13:55. > :13:57.stuff to worry about and plainly, there is lots to worry about, we
:13:58. > :14:02.have got the Middle East and North Korea, that's a problem, but if you
:14:03. > :14:06.look at the general outlook, if you look at the alarm bells that would
:14:07. > :14:09.normally ring towards the top end of the market, you know, things of
:14:10. > :14:13.sentiment, interest rates, earnings growth, most of them are not ringing
:14:14. > :14:17.at the moment. Yes, I think, you know, we are at the back end of this
:14:18. > :14:22.bull market. We have been going for six years now. This is a maturing
:14:23. > :14:26.bull market, but I don't think it is over yet. Briefly, going back to
:14:27. > :14:32.China. That seems to be the key focus. Beijing announcing today they
:14:33. > :14:35.will suspend lifting this ban which was supposed to be on Friday.
:14:36. > :14:38.Beijing is more interested in economic growth than really the
:14:39. > :14:43.stock market. If Beijing is between a rock and a hard place it has to be
:14:44. > :14:47.careful as to what it does to help its markets, right? I think they
:14:48. > :14:51.were probably stung a bit last year. I think they thought we will go into
:14:52. > :14:54.the stock market, we can prop up the stock market and they are realising,
:14:55. > :14:57.actually it is more difficult. It doesn't work. So yes, I mean, this
:14:58. > :15:01.latest announcement suggests that they are still trying to under pin
:15:02. > :15:05.the market, but I think they will probably back off and concentrate
:15:06. > :15:08.more on economic growth. OK, Tom, great stuff, thank you. You
:15:09. > :15:10.know the routine, you will be back, taking a look at some of the papers
:15:11. > :15:14.with us. Thank you very much. Keeping growth on track as cities
:15:15. > :15:17.expand, how can they keep up with growing demand
:15:18. > :15:19.for buses and trains? We'll speak to one expert
:15:20. > :15:21.about the role public transport You're with Business
:15:22. > :15:32.Live from BBC News. The decorations are down,
:15:33. > :15:38.the cards have been recycled and it's time for the retailers
:15:39. > :15:41.to tell us how Christmas Yesterday, there were disappointing
:15:42. > :15:48.figures from Next, and this morning Overall sales were up
:15:49. > :15:52.over 5% in the six weeks to January, with a big rise
:15:53. > :15:55.in people shopping online. Sir Charlie Mayfield is Chairman
:15:56. > :15:57.of the John Lewis Partnership. What we are seeing is the way
:15:58. > :16:00.customers are shopping More sales online, but shops
:16:01. > :16:07.have a really important A lot of our customers are not
:16:08. > :16:14.just shopping online, a lot are going to our shops first
:16:15. > :16:17.to have a look at products Some are going online first and then
:16:18. > :16:21.going into the shops to buy there. A big strength for us is we have
:16:22. > :16:25.both of those channels has paid real dividends for us
:16:26. > :16:28.over this Christmas. Simon Jack has the figures -
:16:29. > :16:38.how have the markets been reacting? It's privately held, owned by the
:16:39. > :16:44.employees, so no share price reaction. A pretty good performance
:16:45. > :16:50.at the department stores with sales up 5%. It also owns Waitrose where
:16:51. > :16:55.sales were down 1.4%. It sounds bad, but consider food prices are
:16:56. > :16:59.falling, a 1.4% decline is not bad, especially compared to the
:17:00. > :17:05.competition. He mentioned getting the clicks and bricks mix right. He
:17:06. > :17:09.said Black Friday was primarily an online affair. Christmas was a bit
:17:10. > :17:14.of both. The Christmas clearance sales saw a strong store turnout.
:17:15. > :17:16.John Lewis look like they have got that mix right.
:17:17. > :17:20.bid for Argos owner Home Retail has been rejected -
:17:21. > :17:29.Home Retail Group's shares closed up 41%, while Sainsbury's fell 5%.
:17:30. > :17:37.Try to take on the online rivals. They want to have a multichannel
:17:38. > :17:43.offering. Argos, potentially with city centre stores and click and
:17:44. > :17:48.collect, it offers that choice. The markets were a surprise, Sainsbury's
:17:49. > :17:52.coming to buy Home Retail Group. Shares up 40%. Home Retail Group
:17:53. > :18:00.turned the offer down and Sainsbury is now have until February two to
:18:01. > :18:05.come back with an improved offer. -- until February the 2nd.
:18:06. > :18:08.You're watching Business Live - our top story - the world's top tech
:18:09. > :18:11.firms unveil their latest moves to try to integrate their devices
:18:12. > :18:16.into our cars, as the consumer electronics show gets underway
:18:17. > :18:28.Full coverage from the team there, and full coverage on the website of
:18:29. > :18:31.the announcements made there. In many parts of the world,
:18:32. > :18:34.cities have become real economic They produce 80 per cent
:18:35. > :18:40.of the world's output - and more than half the planet's
:18:41. > :18:48.population lives there. It's thought that in ten years' time
:18:49. > :18:52.80% of the world's middle classes will be living in cities in Africa,
:18:53. > :18:56.China, India and a handful of other Keeping people moving will be
:18:57. > :19:02.a major priority if cities So do cities need to invest more
:19:03. > :19:10.in public transport? It's thought that capital investment
:19:11. > :19:12.in the sector can spark economic activity worth up to four times
:19:13. > :19:16.the initial investment. Alain Flausche is Secretary General
:19:17. > :19:20.of the International Association of Public Transport and he joins me
:19:21. > :19:33.now from our Brussels bureau. Welcome to the programme. Here's the
:19:34. > :19:39.challenge. Given that the Paris climate agreement recently, can you
:19:40. > :19:48.grow public transport systems around the world while keeping within those
:19:49. > :19:55.agreed emissions targets? Good morning. I think the first thing, as
:19:56. > :19:59.you know, the national commitment today wouldn't leaders to the -1.5
:20:00. > :20:04.degrees which is the target. If we want to reach those targets then we
:20:05. > :20:11.have to develop public transportation. Transport is one of
:20:12. > :20:16.the big emitters of CO2. Private transport is a large part of this.
:20:17. > :20:20.Public transport has the advantage of being extremely efficient in
:20:21. > :20:24.terms of CO2 emissions. The job for the years to come is to convince
:20:25. > :20:29.governments they should keep investing in public transport and,
:20:30. > :20:36.to some extent, restrict using private cars in cities. A valid
:20:37. > :20:40.point, but another challenge, in your job your organisation is to
:20:41. > :20:46.promote public transport systems around the world. With what we are
:20:47. > :20:52.reading, 20 years ago 80% of the world's middle classes lived in OECD
:20:53. > :20:57.nations. In 20 years' time they were believing in China, India, Asia,
:20:58. > :21:04.Africa and Latin America. Many of those people will want to buy a car.
:21:05. > :21:07.-- they will be living in. The car is some thing of a status symbol.
:21:08. > :21:17.But our job is to convince governments that what happened in
:21:18. > :21:20.Beijing, in Delhi, miserable lives because of the conditions, it's
:21:21. > :21:25.because they've got too many cars. The only way to make their cities
:21:26. > :21:29.attractive and liveable is to develop public transport. The
:21:30. > :21:32.Chinese have understood this. In Beijing and Shanghai they have been
:21:33. > :21:39.making a new metro line every other year. In India they are still
:21:40. > :21:46.in India is doing it. In Delhi, I in India is doing it. In Delhi, I
:21:47. > :21:50.have been there a futile and is, and on one day the level of fine
:21:51. > :21:53.particles was about ten times the authorised level. The Supreme Court
:21:54. > :21:59.in India issued a judgment saying to the state of India they had to take
:22:00. > :22:07.further measures. We are heading more in that direction and we will
:22:08. > :22:11.over the next few months and years. Just to talk about the capacity
:22:12. > :22:15.issues. Looking at many developed cities around the world like Paris
:22:16. > :22:19.and London, they are struggling with larger and growing populations. But
:22:20. > :22:24.the infrastructure has been in place for decades. How do you deal with
:22:25. > :22:28.that demand for extra infrastructure and capacity when you are dealing
:22:29. > :22:33.with age old infrastructure will around an environment that is not
:22:34. > :22:38.conducive to putting in extra rail lines and bus routes, because cities
:22:39. > :22:46.are already very congested? I agree it's a challenge. But some well
:22:47. > :22:51.backed people have said the Western world misses about 1000 billion in
:22:52. > :22:55.investment in infrastructure. We need to go that way. Looking at the
:22:56. > :23:00.infrastructure, it looks expensive, in terms of the money, but looking
:23:01. > :23:03.at the wider economic benefits in investment, you can see it's the
:23:04. > :23:10.only way to continue keeping growing cities and making them liveable and
:23:11. > :23:16.wealthy. Looking at the example of Crossrail, for instance, you might
:23:17. > :23:19.remember the best advocate for Crossrail, the first Crossrail, and
:23:20. > :23:26.already the second, was the business community. I'm so sorry, we are
:23:27. > :23:30.running out of time, but we appreciate your input. Thank you for
:23:31. > :23:35.joining us. But luck with public transport around the world. Tom will
:23:36. > :23:42.be back with us to talk about the papers. It's all about Twitter in
:23:43. > :23:47.the business pages. Twitter might soon ditched the 140 character limit
:23:48. > :23:54.to allow 10,000 character posts. Really? It's a pretty appalling
:23:55. > :23:58.thought. The beauty of Twitter is that it's short and snappy, it
:23:59. > :24:03.forces people to attempt to say something witty and sharp. 10,000
:24:04. > :24:08.characters, as if there wasn't enough information on the Internet,
:24:09. > :24:12.we will drown in it. So many people get in touch, one viewer says that
:24:13. > :24:17.the 140 characters is part of the novelty. Who needs another Facebook?
:24:18. > :24:23.Paul says it's good to be concise, who needs these massively long and
:24:24. > :24:26.dribbling tweets. Many people pointing to the politicians will
:24:27. > :24:32.stop brevity is great when politicians treat, and if it's not
:24:33. > :24:37.140 characters they will take advantage. It was the unique selling
:24:38. > :24:44.point. Twitter does have a problem though. You only have to look at my
:24:45. > :24:49.twitter, none of my children are on twitter, but I am. They don't want
:24:50. > :24:53.to target people like me, they want to get to the younger generation and
:24:54. > :24:58.are failing to do that. We are told the younger generation wants text
:24:59. > :25:03.speak, brevity, has a short attention span. So this would fly in
:25:04. > :25:06.the face of that. You would think so, but the short attention span is
:25:07. > :25:13.catered for better by Instagram and that's where they are going. Bad
:25:14. > :25:17.driving and how insurers plan. I had to re-ensure this year, and they
:25:18. > :25:22.offered cheaper rates if I put a box in my car. The technology involved
:25:23. > :25:28.in cars, this can be used to monitor what we do. It does sound great, and
:25:29. > :25:31.these things are presented as a consumer benefit, put the box in
:25:32. > :25:37.your car and we'll cut the cost of insurance. But the flip side is a
:25:38. > :25:40.massive intrusion into our privacy. We are giving away huge amounts of
:25:41. > :25:48.information about how we live our lives. I don't like that. I don't
:25:49. > :25:55.even like insurers! They are so nasty sometimes. That's it from
:25:56. > :26:08.business life today and we will have more throughout the day.
:26:09. > :26:19.Only six days into the month and parts of Scotland have had their
:26:20. > :26:21.wettest January on record. Clouds gathering out of the