this is worklife from bbc news, with sally bundock and karin giannone. app-happy! mobile users spent more three and a half hours a day on their phones last year — making tech firms $300 billion. so who are the big winners from our global addiction? live from london, that's our top story on thursday 16th january. we are in love with our phones more than ever — and there are now millions of apps and websites vying for our attention, in an industry

worth billions each year. also in the programme... the japanese lawyer for ex—nissan boss carlos ghosn has quit, following his client's flight to lebanon. and... trouble is brewing in the tea industry. profits are falling for farmers in sri lanka, one of the world's biggest producers. and we'll be getting the inside track on writing the book of your life. we'll be talking to one business that offers a personal biography service for the elderly to collect and record their thoughts and memories for family and friends. more and more of us are spending hours each day glued to our mobile phones. so we want to know if you've ever tried a digital detox? if so, how well did it go? let us know — just use the hashtag bbcworklife. let's talk smartphones,

i will try and cope with my separation anxiety while i am on air. we will talk about this global addiction to the devices. and new research gives a sense ofjust how lucrative they have become. revenues from smartphone use — including spending via apps as well as advertising — soared by a fifth last year to $310 billion worldwide, according to consultants app annie. almost three—quarters of the money we spent via our phones was on gaming. other than games, tinder and netflix were the big earners. apple was a clear winner — its app store accounted for half the spending — as much as google play and other android stores put together. more than 200 billion apps were downloaded around the world last year. and, on average, we spent three hours, a0 minutes a day looking at our phones — that's up by a third in the past two years. that generates a vast amount of data about our habits, which has become hugely marketable.

david coombs is head of strategic services at shale uk. how staggering oui’ services at shale uk. how staggering our these figures, three and a half hours per day? it is crazy, huge numbers but i don't think we are seeing anything breaking a trend, we have seen this over the last few yea rs, have seen this over the last few years, growing and growing and as technology prices go down, more and more are getting into the market. and we have a younger generation, if you want to call them that, who have not sought adopted the smartphone as pa rt not sought adopted the smartphone as part of their life when they were going about their life in other ways, they have been brought up on the smartphone and that is really spurring things on. we are notjust talking social media, we are talking about the way people manage their lives, now being transmitted to their phone or rather than on a pc oi’ their phone or rather than on a pc or doing it manually. that is a huge point. gaming, of course, is massive but we are seeing the connected life

now, so they control your heating from your smartphone, financial services, video editing, all of that kind of stuff, much more lifestyle, all centred around the smartphone so we are seeing a huge growth across the board. and we tend to take them with us everywhere we go, i have mine on set, making sure it is on silent but we even take it into the toilet, just in case it rings or something things, and whilst we have it all the time, it is listening to us, just gathering data constantly. what is being done with that information? that is the huge opportunity that brands and advertisers are seizing upon because they see that this wealth of data is a way to be able to connect to these audiences because, as you say, they are audiences because, as you say, they a re pretty audiences because, as you say, they are pretty much 24—7 connected. may bea are pretty much 24—7 connected. may be a few hours of sleep but most of the time, that mobile phone is with them so they are trying to understand how they can use that data to tap into audiences and use it to sell products or engage in the

services they already have. do you see these figures ever going down? or will they go up and up?|j see these figures ever going down? or will they go up and up? i think certainly for the next few years, they will continue to go up and up. things like 56 being rolled out is going to give that another turbo boost and we will see more and more services. i think video streaming will become much more prevalent. we are already seeing a lot of growth with new services coming on board andi with new services coming on board and i think 56 will catapult that even further. moving beyond that, five or ten years, we may start to see a world where we start to move away from smartphones as more independent devices have connectivity but smartphones are certainly here for this foreseeable. have you done a digital detox? do you feel it is necessary?” have you done a digital detox? do you feel it is necessary? i haven't andi you feel it is necessary? i haven't and i think because of the world that i live in and thejob i do, it is harderfor me to have that i live in and thejob i do, it is harder for me to have a that i live in and thejob i do, it is harderfor me to have a point that i live in and thejob i do, it is harder for me to have a point of view if i'm completely detoxed, although i do certainly try and limit, when i go home, try and limit and put the mobile away so i am not

looking at it. it becomes a habit that you don't even realise you are doing after a while. david coombs, head of strategic services at chale uk, thank you. it is the expectation of others. do you get told off if you don't answer your phone immediately, to your children? yes, and if i don't answer it on the first ring, i am told! let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news the us and china have signed an agreement aimed at easing a trade war that has rattled markets and weighed on the global economy. china has pledged to boost us imports and strengthen intellectual property rules while the us has agreed to halve some of the new tariffs it has imposed on chinese products. we will have more detail on that story in a moment. us share market indexes have hit new highs, with the dowjones industrial average, closing above 29,000 for the first time ever. the three major us indexes rose about 30% in 2019, recording their best year since 2013 despite average earnings growth estimated at a far more modest 1%.

twitter has apologised for allowing adverts to be micro—targeted at certain users such as neo—nazis, homophobes and other hate groups. a bbc investigation found it was possible to target users who had shown an interest in keywords including "transphobic", "white supremacists" and "anti—gay". the japanese lawyer for ex—nissan boss carlos ghosn has quit following his client's flight to lebanon. carlos claimed a conviction rate injapan of over 99%, had led him to believe he would not get a fair trial. sarah toms is in singapore. what did we hear from the lawyer about his reasons? well, it is interesting, it is not really as surprised that the japanese lawyers have resigned, it is more of a surprise that they had taken so long

because after all, the former nissan boss carlos gozun has left the country, where he was fighting financial misconduct charges and he has signalled that he is not returning. ina has signalled that he is not returning. in a statement, the lead lawyer said everyone involved in the case in his practice had resigned and mrghosn of case in his practice had resigned and mr ghosn of course fled japan for lebanon on last month. japan has issued international wanted notices for issued international wanted notices foer issued international wanted notices for mr ghosn issued international wanted notices foerghosn and issued international wanted notices for mr ghosn and his wife, which means if they try to leave lebanon on, they could be arrested. some background on the lawyer mr hiranaka, he said he is famous for his combative style, he has earned the nickname of razor after winning several high—profile cases and earlier had expressed disappointment that mr ghosn had absconded and said he wouldn't be resigning until his client settled his account, so no

word on what has happened with that. the mystery continues, thank you very much, sarah thomas. let's show you the markets. we have mentioned that the dowjones closing above 29,000 for the very first time, eve ryo ne 29,000 for the very first time, everyone will have the champagne on ice for the 30,000 market. asian markets slow moving, the devil is in the detail with the phase one trade deal, until it is signed and said. we have a earnings coming out later in the us, some significant banks reporting results but a mixed day following the bumper session the night before on wall street. now to the us, where samira has been taking a look at how us retailers faired over that all—importa nt festive shopping period. the american economy depends heavily on consumer spending, which makes the holiday shopping

season a crucial time of year. later today, the commerce department will release data on retail sales, this so just how much americans bought in december and what they held back on. economists expect that sales went up by between 0.3 and 0.6%% but the big by between 0.3 and 0.6% but the big box retailer target, it is the eighth largest in the us, theyjust said they missed their sale goals for the holidays. normally, big sellers during the gift—giving season, sales of toys and electronics at target were weak. now, it could be that target did not fare well because of some missteps by the company itself, but it could also signal a broader pull—back by consumers, that momentum in the us economy is starting to slow. time now for our daily look at some of the newspaper and website stories which have caught our eye. joining me is dr louise beaumont, executive chair of tech firm signoi.

louise, welcome to you. we will start with a story that dominated most of yesterday, phase one of the us- most of yesterday, phase one of the us— china trade deal. most of yesterday, phase one of the us- china trade deal. yes, the good news is there is a preliminary agreement in place. this is easing a trade war that has been going for two years trade war that has been going for two yea rs now. trade war that has been going for two years now. positive language about this, president trump has said the pact will be transformative for the pact will be transformative for the us economy. the chinese vice president liu he has said it is a good deal all round and there is relief that their process is moving. china has pledged to us graduate boost us imports by 200 million and they are not manipulating their currency “— they are not manipulating their currency —— pledged to boost us imports. i am waiting for the but... there are still $390 billion of ta riffs there are still $390 billion of tariffs in place on china from the us and we are only in the first

phase of the deal, there is much more to be done. what is really interesting, we decoded 40,000 of trump's tweets... 40,000? he is an inveterate tweeter, and we have done a scan of the man's mind because how he has positioned the story is important. he has turned what is effectively a thin story into a globally dominating story by making it all about him, in the way that he so it all about him, in the way that he so often does. there are two things that come across in the stories he has told on this particular trade deal. one, deal—making, it is the thing at which he is pre—eminent, he presents himself as master of the deal and, secondly, celebrating me, celebrating trump, how great he is and how no one else can do what he has done. so he has turned a thin story into global headlines through force of personality. but, to be fair, if we get to phase two, and

it's a long road ahead, but if we get to the point where, for example, in china, we see intellectual property rights more protected, we see subsidising companies by the state in china no longer happening, etc, which is the aim of eventually, thatis etc, which is the aim of eventually, that is a good thing, isn't it? regardless of how trump portrays this on twitter. that will be the meat of it. getting the industrial subsidies that china puts in place for its home team balanced a little more is a very large win. we have obviously got who are way too, and, critically, access for foreign finance firms —— huawei. critically, access for foreign finance firms -- huawei. how long did it take to decode 40,000 tweets? ten yea rs did it take to decode 40,000 tweets? ten years of history, it took a matter of hours. using tech! technology is the way forward. someone has to do it, thank you very much. still to come... writing the book of your life.

we'll be talking to one business that offers a personal biography service for the elderly to collect and record thoughts and memories for family and friends. you're with worklife from bbc news. airline and rail rivals have been attacking the government's flybe rescue plan, with british airways owner iag filing a complaint to the eu arguing flybe's rescue breaches state aid rules. our resident aviation expert theo leggett has been keeping an eye on this and can bring us up to date. what is the latest with where this is headed? well, this deal, this rescue for flybe was or is going to be controversial and it has attracted a pretty scathing response from the compa ny‘s attracted a pretty scathing response from the company's rivals. you have to remember that flybe is notjust a small company, it was taken over last year by three much bigger ones.

one of those is virgin atlantic and one of virgin atlantic's main shareholders is delta, one of the most profitable airlines in the world and questions are being asked about why such deep pocketed investors need the government to step in and help them keep this airline going. in a complaint to the european commission, we have had willie walsh, the outgoing head of iag, the company that owns british airways and iberia, he said virgin delta now just want to use airways and iberia, he said virgin delta nowjust want to use the taxpayer to pick up the tab for their mismanagement of the airline. this is a blatant misuse of public funds. he has complained to the european commission that this is in breach of european state aid rules which are meant to protect the competitive environment for airlines. the chief executive of easyj et has airlines. the chief executive of easyjet has also come out against this, saying taxpayers should not be used to bail out individual companies, especially when they are backed by well funded businesses. this is all about plans to defer payment of air passenger duty, which is collected by the airlines on

behalf of the government and it looks as though there is going to be a little bit of a holiday before flybe has to pay that back and also the proposal that, in future, air passenger duty could be reviewed. also, criticism is coming from other department. the rail delivery group, which represents railway operators, said any review of air passenger duty that encourages more people to fly domestically would limit efforts to tackle the crime climate crisis. so the government may have come up with a deal that allows flybe to keep lying and keep regional connections but there is certainly controversy about it. theo, thank you very much. part of our fantastic tea m you very much. part of our fantastic team in the business unit and you can see what they are writing about online. go to the bbc business page, all sorts of stories. the latest on flybe, the trade deal but also the story about shell.

you're watching worklife. a reminder of our top story... we are now spending more than three and a half hours a day on our phones last year — our addiction is making some tech firms 300 billion dollars richer. do you know how many minutes, hours, you are on yours? i would say that might reflect a general day in my life but it is doing all sorts of things. i checked mine, i didn't know this, you can check to see what your screen time is so mine on a daily average isjust screen time is so mine on a daily average is just under three screen time is so mine on a daily average isjust under three hours. i was shocked. i am mrs average. it doesn't say what you're doing? it doesn't say what you're doing? it divides it up, so much on social media, so much on use, so much on admin. are you going to make any changes? i don't know, i may need to detox. we better move on. now, you won't be surprised to hear that autobiographies are one of the best—selling book categories out there and our next guest wants to offer everyone the help they need to write their own, even if it's only for friends and family to read. lifebook is a private autobiography service aiming to give elder adults both a legacy and a project to enjoy

and live for. the compa ny‘s founder, was inspired to start the business whilst caring for his father throughout an illness. roy moed, founder & ceo, lifebook is here. welcome. and you have got the book you produced for your dad right there. and also another one to show us. just tell us how this started, you were in the airline industry, where due, nothing to do with drugs. nothing at all and, academically, i wasn't in that sort of space, i am dyslexic anyway, so to be a publisher now producing over 8,000 titles is quite a different challenge. i started my father, titles is quite a different challenge. istarted my father, did the first book and then decided i actually wanted to do this for people around the world and make it achievable. so are used by airline logistics background to systematise it and logistics background to systematise itandi logistics background to systematise it and i deconstructed the interviewer from the writer. so the interviewer from the writer. so the interviewer is actually somebody with empathy, actively listening, who is local to where your parent or

grandparent is and they go along and interview them, recorded 12 times over a period of some 90 minutes each and then they upload that. just talk us through the process, because you have actually created books for people all over the world. so you have had to have people who can interview people in different cities, towns, globally and obviously they end up with the book. how does it work? we have about 300 interviewers around the world and 20 people back in the lifebook office and the platform we developed manages everything. so project managerfrom the manages everything. so project manager from the beginning manages everything. so project managerfrom the beginning is in touch with, say, your grandparent and they carried out right through the six month process and, at the end of that, the interviewer —— interviews having been written, get typeset, proofread and printed on beautiful archival paper. what inspired you specifically about the conversations you had with your father that led to this?|j conversations you had with your father that led to this? i really wa nted father that led to this? i really wanted him to have a project,

something to do and he actually made a statement that he felt he didn't have anything to contribute any more once. well, we have got that on a small video my niece jemma once. well, we have got that on a small video my niecejemma did and that was the inspiration for lifebook, to actually find that moment. i have to say, i thought about this for people that i know who may no longer be with us soon and yet they lived through the second world war, in the case of my great grandma, two world wars, she lived to nearly 100, so it is capturing stories which are fascinating and may not be heard otherwise, but it does sound expensive, right. it is stories and it is social history and what price do you put on that? it is priceless. but it starts at £7,500 and can go up but it starts at £7,500 and can go up to something like 30,000, to give you a sense of where we are. it is 150 hours' and work that is the price of a gardener, if you put it in that context. a lot of customers

are buying it for themselves, the average age of the customer is 82. we think people should be gifting it to their parents but they are not, these people want to have a legacy. one of our customer said if ijust leave another £7,500 to my kids, they are going to blow it. i'm going to leave them ten precious books about their history. the process of itself, the interviews and sessions, a series of 1290 minute meetings, how much does that benefit the person telling the stories? totally, we researched this at the brain research institute in toronto and the interviews over that time enabled to process throughout that, is therapeutic, not therapy. with your dad, it wasn't a book initially, it was a printed out document, a manuscript. did he actually ever see the finished book? no, in honesty, i didn't look at it for a couple of years until i had the idea and thought i could do it for more people if i can find a way

to systematise it and that is why lifebook was created. roy, thank you very much for coming in and sharing your story. ina in a moment, we will hear whether you have been brave enough to do a digital detox. neither of us have been there yet. i don't want to! but, first, tea is one of the world's most popular drinks — and sri lanka has, for many years, been one of the world's biggest producers. but trouble is brewing for the industry, because profits are falling, and farmers are struggling to recruit the workers needed to pick the leaves. anbarasan ethirajan reports has the story. a lush green landscape in central sri lanka. the world famous ceylon tea has been growing on these hills for more than a century and a half. women workers carefully pick the best two leaves on a bud. they need to gather at least 20 kilograms of tea leaves to earn theirfull wages, less than $5 a day. the workers here are gathering all the tea leaves they've plucked since morning.

they have been working for hours, wading through the steep plantation for miles, to gather these tea leaves. they are being weighed in now and then these tea leaves will be taken to the factory. the tender leaves are dried and processed in factories like these. from bush to cup in 24 hours. but the industry has been struggling in recent months. due to the global economic crisis and the instability in the middle east. there is less demand for tea and the payments are also delayed. as a result, prices are falling at auctions in colombo. right now, because of the very low prices, mainly the tea smallholders and private factories are shutting down. and private tea sectors are shutting down. that's directly related to the price that we see at auctions. but the surviving tea estates are facing another problem. they are losing the tea pickers. despite working in these tea estates for generations, many say that life hasn't improved.

translation: if i fall sick, then i have to stay at home. there are no ambulances here. last month, i got bitten by a snake, but i survived. i am living with my husband and three children in a small room in the estate quarters. many workers are leaving the plantations to find jobs in urban areas for better pay and conditions. in the last three decades, the workforce has dropped by two—thirds. hundreds of thousands of people depend on the industry. for those involved in the making of ceylon tea, these are challenging times. let's bring you the details on a story about micro shell. climate protesters extension rebellion have blocked the headquarters to the

aberdeen micro shell building. —— extension rebellion. they have arrived and they say they are going to stay there all day to hold shell to stay there all day to hold shell to account. that is a story we are keeping a close eye on. we have been asking you about a digital detox, thank you for your responses. angela tweeted. .. allen says... as we have mentioned, neither of us have done one. i try to be disciplined. i try not to be on my phone with my children around. iam children around. i am tracking my children with my phone, i know what time they arrived

at school this morning. anyway, that is workload for another day, whatever you are up to, i hope you have a good one. —— work life. thanks for watching. good morning. yesterday, we had some fine and sunny weather across many parts but, today, the weather turns a bit more wet and windy again. the strongest winds around the irish sea coast but it could cause disruption today, this area of low pressure moving on from the west end you can see the white lines, the isobars, getting closer together. when they squeezed together like that, the winds start to increase. around the irish sea coast, gail is expected, gust of 65 mph around wales and the south—west of england and the rain spreading from west to east. it won't reach the far east of scotland and —— england and north—east of

scotla nd and —— england and north—east of scotland until later today. temperatures are maximum of 13 degrees, the wind coming from the south—west, relatively mild direction. overnight, the low pressure will continue to move away and the next weather system moving in behind that will bring an enhancement of showers. in the morning, they will be across wales, through western areas and gradually push eastwards. some sunshine either side of that. sunshine for much of scotla nd side of that. sunshine for much of scotland and northern ireland, a bit of rain affecting the far north—west of rain affecting the far north—west of both countries. temperatures on friday down a little bit compared to today, 7—10 degrees. going into the weekend, higher pressure is going to develop, so it's going to become much drier and there will be some sunny spells, although it will become colder with the return of some frosts. this area of low pressure here, that will move away to the south and it will allow high pressure to build and become really quite established across the uk through the weekend, so that high pressure will bring lighter winds, it will bring plenty of dry and

sunny weather, some showers affecting the far north of scotland. elsewhere, lots of blue skies around, a bit of a chilly start on saturday morning and temperatures by the afternoon around six or seven celsius, slightly below average for the time of year. through saturday night into sunday, those clear skies will bring the risk of some frosts, quite widespread, i think, on sunday morning, so we wake up to a bit of a covering of the frost first thing but as you can see, lots of blue skies, lots of sunshine expected on sunday. the winds will be light as well, a bit more breezy around the west of scotland. maximum temperature is around 5—7, eight celsius, so what has been quite an active week with fairly wet and windy conditions, the weekend at least will be a bit drier and sunnier.

you're watching bbc news at 9 with me rebecca jones. the headlines at 9. "the moment of crisis has come" — david attenborough tells the bbc efforts to tackle climate change need to happen now as global temperatures reach an all time high. this is an urgent problem that has to be solved. and what is more, we know how to do it. that is the paradoxical thing, that we are refusing to take steps we know have to be taken. those comments from sir david attenborough come as the bbc