this is the business briefing, i'm ben bland. voice alexa: showtime. i'm always ready! the relentless rise of alexa. amazon gives its digital assistant a massive push, with a range of new gadgets and the voice of samuel ljackson! plus, economic cycle. high—tech exercise bike firm peloton joins the nasdaq, later, with a starting valuation of over $8 billion. but are investors falling for the spin? and on the markets: asian shares creep higher as the us and japan sign a trade deal and president trump hints there could soon be peace in the trade war with china.

we start with alexa. love it or hate it, you could soon be hearing a lot more from amazon's talking virtual assistant. the tech giant's unveiled a huge push to get more of us using it, building alexa into a range of gadgets from glasses to earphones and even a ring. you'll even be able to give it a celebrity voice. more on that in a moment. but first, artificial intelligence, whether it's alexa, or apple's siri or google assistant, is entering our homes and lives at a rapid pace, all the while gathering such valuable data on our habits. now, by 2024, the global smart home market could be worth as much as $151 billion.

one in six americans now have a smart speaker in their home, that is a 28% rise since the beginning of 2017. and so far that industry is dominated by amazon. it has around 75% of the smart speaker market, with its biggest rival google lagging way behind. it's hoping to grow that market share even further by giving the devices a voice that we know and trust. just like we practised, ready? i'm always ready. showtime. today in los angeles, it is 85 degrees. say my name! not bad, for a rookie. see rookie again, i dare you! dash say rookie. justine lai is director of data and analytics at the consultants c space. shejoins me now.

just then, it is good to have you with us. let's pick up on the celebrity boys being. that is something, someone makes these devices a lot less alien, it's a voice that makes it more familiar. is this a tactic to introduce more of these devices into people's homes? they have made alexa more emotive and responsive in general and engage in a more human way. voice is a big thing, not many people are using it for beyond the most functional requests and asks, only 2% of people are using alexa to order at home. so there is still a lot of adoptions ago. but at the same time they are betting if they make it more related to bill an accessible, and ultimately able to

solve problems that are, that will bea solve problems that are, that will be a big part of their strategy. amazon already dominate the market, but they want to increase that further. i suppose that is because once these devices are in place they gather such valuable data on what people buy, what they eat, what music they listen to. and that is so useful for tech companies. it is useful for tech companies. it is useful because ultimately it helps identify customer problems and we know if you can solve customer problems, and create products that are truly relevant and create is in their lives, that is what drives adoption and revenue. so amazon is really taking a bet that if they can be in the home on the word go, they can bea be in the home on the word go, they can be a truly central part two consumers‘ lies that would be hard for other competitive is to boot them out of. it raises the question of privacy even more if the devices are part of the clothes people wear.

we‘ve already seen people‘s doubts with various issues just from devices in the home. absolutely. amazon is actively addressing date and ina amazon is actively addressing date and in a lot of the announcements they made yesterday, they talk about privacy being built into the hardware, you can also delete alexa responses 0!’ hardware, you can also delete alexa responses or turn off the cameras and voice recording when you are at home. we also know while consumers talk a lot about privacy and data, what people say is not always what they actually do and mean. when we look at their actual behaviour, they‘re still using these devices, still actively sharing. and as long as amazon is solving felt problems, they will be successful despite these privacy concerns. we know from our research amazon is a most trusted brand because they solve major perceived problems. justina from c space, thank you. the international monetary fund has

named kristalina georgieva as its new managing director — one of the most powerful roles in globalfinance. she takes over from christine lagarde, who is leaving to become head of the european central bank. so what do we know about her? vivienne nunis in new tork has more. kristalina georgieva grew up in bulgaria, under communism. this is the first had of the imf to grow up ina the first had of the imf to grow up in a developing economy. she takes over the imf at a time when the global economy is slowing.|j over the imf at a time when the global economy is slowing. i assume my position fully aware of the challenges we face. global economic growth continues to disappoint, trade tensions persist, and debt burdens are rising in many countries. ms kristalina georgieva

has been known to champion the causes of climate change, she takes over from christine lagarde causes of climate change, she takes overfrom christine lagarde and causes of climate change, she takes over from christine lagarde and will be the second female boss at the trillion dollarfund. let‘s turn now to international trade, and the us and japan have outlined initial details of a new deal. let‘s go to our asia business hub where mariko oi has been following the story. so, what more do we know about this deal, then? well, ben, there is still more work to r&r a broader agreement, but at least president trump and by minister abe have managed to announce they reached a deal during their meeting at the united nations, which they really wa nted united nations, which they really wanted to do —— to out. we will see lower ta riffs wanted to do —— to out. we will see lower tariffs on us agricultural products. that is a big victory for president trump, is also hoping to

open up japan‘s president trump, is also hoping to open upjapan‘s markets to american farmers. under the agreement we are announcing today, japan will open new markets to approximately $7 billion in american agricultural products, japanese tariffs will now be significantly lower or eliminated entirely for you is eve, port, wheat, cheese, corn, wine and so much more. this is a huge victory for america‘s farmers, ranchers and growers , for america‘s farmers, ranchers and growers, and that is very important to me. so this could provide some relief for those farmers who have been battered by china‘s retaliatory ta riffs been battered by china‘s retaliatory tariffs in the ongoing trade war. japan‘s foreign minister said the tariff cuts on us farm products are actually within the range granted to countries in the trans—pacific partnership, which of course, president trump pulled out of in 2017. so whether or not you can call this a new victory is doubtful. from the japanese point of view, well, they‘ve managed to prevent the us president from slapping that extra

2596 president from slapping that extra 25% tariff on japanese president from slapping that extra 25% tariff onjapanese cars and auto parts which the chairman of japan automobile manufacturers association welcomed. thank you. fitness firm peloton joins the nasdaq stock market later in a share listing that could value the company at $8 billion. peloton sells high—tech exercise bikes with screens to stream classes or take on your friends over the internet. the firm has 500,000 customers, but has yet to make a profit. the bbc‘s business correspondent samira hussain went to see what all the hype is about. this stationary bike is unique with live and on demand classes which allow users to virtually ride with thousands of others. beat drops

ican i can certainly understand the appeal, but i really miss the communal aspect about going to the gym. there is a sort of community element, you can see people on the leaderboard. in this weird way you feel you are part of a community even though you are all spread over the world. 0ver even though you are all spread over the world. over 500,000 people have bought a peloton, but translating that to success on the stock market isa that to success on the stock market is a whole different game. the bike is a whole different game. the bike is expensive, $2000 plus a monthly subscription fee for its live streamed classes. to eventually become profitable, peloton may need to convince some of these spin enthusiasts to dig their classes. to convince some of these spin enthusiasts to dig their classesm you have a couple of grand extra laying around, i might buy one.|j like laying around, i might buy one.” like the experience of being in a community and having an energetic teacher right in the room. young professionals, we work a lot, we are alone a lot, so it is nice to have a

social dynamic to the workout experience. people who get on a peloton really get of. users are loyal, and that may help the company succeed when it goes public. there have always been and will always be alternatives that is. peloton seems to have established a brand for itself and has a very loyal user base. let‘s be if that sticks. itself and has a very loyal user base. let's be if that sticks. the company will need to keep their growth going. unlike peloton users, investors won‘t want to break a sweat. mia hussein, bbc news, new york. —— samir.

the introduction of minimum pricing for alcohol in scotland appears to have cut drinking. a study for the british medical journal found that the reductions were most noticeable in own—brand spirits and strong ciders. scotland was the first country in the world to introduce a minimum price based on the strength of alcoholic drinks. there have been calls to adopt the policy across the uk. here‘s our health correspondent nick triggle. scotla nd scotland was the first country in the world to introduce minimum price, based on the strength of drinks. mounting concerns had built about problem drinking. a study in a british medicaljournal suggested may have started to have had an impact. researchers looked at the of alcohol bought in shops before and after the introduction of the laws. since may, 2018, the minimum prize of alcohol has been 50p per unit. in the first eight months following the new law, the amount of alcohol purchased her week, per person fell by1.2 units on purchased her week, per person fell by 1.2 units on average. that‘s the equivalent to half a pint of beer or

a sort of spirits. it has pleased campaigners. these are in line with the models we have. in fact, a greater effect than anticipated. 20% on the heaviest drinkers, the most likely you are —— to run into illnesses or early death. colds have emerged to have the rest of the uk follow suit. a 50p prize in 2020, but neither england nor ireland have plans to introduce their own limit. the scottish government said the findings were very encouraging. nick triggle, bbc news. for that story and more, breakfast is coming up at 6:00am with charlie stayt and naga munchetty. there will be more on the fresh criticism facing the prime minister this morning following a heated debate in the house of commons last night. stay tuned for that. this is the briefing from bbc news.

i‘m ben bland. the latest headlines: donald trump‘s democratic rival joe biden has stepped up calls for president trump to be impeached, urging lawmakers to hold him to account for an alleged abuse of power. britain‘s prime minister is facing the fury of opposition mps after his defiant return to the house of commons. boris johnson‘s accused of using "shocking", "shameful" and "dangerous" language. saudi arabia has warned that all options, including a military response, remain possible after the attacks on the kingdom‘s oil industry earlier this month. all of the uk papers are carrying the same story. boris johnson‘s return to parliament. the independent says the prime minister was welcomed with applause from his own benches but brushed aside demands to resign or apologise from the opposition. "man with no shame" headlines the daily mirror. the paper says mrjohnson "failed

to show an ounce of remorse" following the supreme court "slapdown". the financial times says borisjohnson has paved the way for an acrimonious "people versus parliament" general election with a defiant defence of his brexit strategy. meanwhile, the daily telegraph carries a story from the labour party conference, saying jeremy corbyn promised to scrap all controls on immigration if elected. an image of a lone house surrounded by water dominates the front page of le figaro. a new climate report out says hundreds of millions will be affected by rising water levels. and finally, a story we were talking about earlier, bbc online are reporting that users of amazon‘s virtual assistant alexa will soon be able to choose from different celebrity voices including that of actor samuel ljackson. i was asking earlier for your toy.