Last time we saw the 2014 Bentley Continental Flying Spur out testing, our only questions
about the new car regarded its rear-end styling, and when the car would
debut. Well now we know for certain that the car will be unveiled at
the Geneva Motor Show, and we're also getting a better idea of what the car will look like thanks to Bentley releasing a brief teaser video.
The easiest-to-spot detail that we see in this Flying Spur video is the
car's horizontal taillights – the first such on a Bentley since the
1990s. We can also see that this hyper-luxury sedan will get a more
squared-off front end than its Continental GT
counterpart. But, from what we can tell, it will receive a similarly
laid out interior, including the three-spoke steering wheel.
Scroll down
to watch the video, and we've also attached the single-sentence press
release in which Bentley promises to reveal more details about the car
on February 20.
Press Release
THE NEW BENTLEY FLYING SPUR IS COMING
(Crewe, 4th February 2013) Redefining the standards of the luxury
performance sedan, the new Bentley Flying Spur is coming. Further
details will be released on 20th February 2013.
Cue the camera and step into the life you think you deserve.
That's the message from the new ad campaign for the Lexus LS,
in which imaginary young LS owners jet-set around the globe attending
fashion shows and parking their LS sedans on the roof for a cup of Joe.
It's a little cheesy, but in fairness, any commercial that attempts to
define a lifestyle by a vehicle tends to be that way. Now walk down that
red carpet and note how bad the valet service is at the end of the
piece.
The commercial, aptly named Flashbulbs, touts the new Lexus flagship and features the all-new Lexus LS F SPORT model. (You know it's sporty because Lexus made the word sport all caps.)
The sport campaign by Lexus
is going to continue as the brand attempts to move away from its older
owners and grab some customers who aren't hitting the early-bird special
at the local diner. A second spot, Paddleshifters, continues the
campaign, taking our couple on even more interesting adventures with
every upshift.
Press Release
Lexus LS Marketing Campaign Lives Loudly Performance and luxury elevated to the highest level
TORRANCE, Calif. (Oct. 29, 2012) - Generations of the Lexus LS have
inspired an entire industry through visionary innovation, craftsmanship
and design. And now the flagship not only has a new face, but has more
than 3,000 new parts. The LS line-up also includes the first-ever LS F
SPORT, and a marketing campaign to highlight the thrilling, exclusive
lifestyle LS drivers live. The LS campaign caps off a successful year of
launches showcasing the brand's bold new face and attitude for the
future.
"We've given the Lexus flagship a whole new look inside and out, but
its uncompromising commitment to world-class luxury remains the same,"
said Brian Smith, Lexus vice president of marketing. "We have created a
launch campaign that, like the 2013 LS, demands to be seen."
Defy Convention
With the all new GS, ES and a refreshed RX that introduced a bold new
look and attitude for the future, 2013 has been a year of launches for
Lexus. But before the year is over, the LS launch will solidify the
brand's new direction. Airing today, the campaign's two general market
spots target those looking to live life to the fullest with experiences
that matter. A third spot, "Everything" is geared to the
African-American audience and will also air at launch.
"Flashbulbs" boils life down to a series of moments, loud moments,
both literally and figuratively. A day-in-the-life of high-end and
exclusive experiences for one couple includes front-row seats at a
fashion show, a passport stamp leading to an exotic vacation, a modern
home in the hills, a swanky jazz club and a glamorous red carpet
arrival. The pop of a camera flash transitions through each scene and
captures each photo-worthy experience. The LS, considered to be one of
the world's quietest cars, still comforts its occupants but announces
its presence in a confident, bold manner.
The second spot, "Paddle Shifters," features the all-new LS F SPORT
and shows that people who don't go quietly constantly seek bigger,
better experiences. They're not happy with the conventional. They do
things faster, louder and more uniquely. Each time the LS F SPORT paddle
shifter is hit the scene transitions and the music, sound and scenery
gets louder and faster: a speed boat racing across the water, a stylish
couple's night out, friends cheering on their favorite team. By the end
the action reaches a frenetic pace with people living life in 8th gear.
The LS F SPORT is the car for those who enjoy a life well-lived, and
don't mind being noticed in the process.
Campaign Pillars
To engage the target audience, the campaign's media extensions will
focus around four pillars to highlight an emotionally exciting, upscale
lifestyle: fashion, entertainment, epicurean and travel.
A first-ever sponsorship of the GQ "Men of the Year" celebrates the
men who define cultural relevance, taking an aspirational approach in
talking to our target. The sponsorship includes a three-page spread,
digital homepage takeovers and an exclusive automotive presence at the
Men of the Year and GQ Nights events.
An exclusive, 360 degree partnership with USA's "Suits" includes
vehicle integration and custom on-air vignettes. Combining broadcast,
digital and social channels, an interactive game component will offer
digital narrative, custom videos, Facebook and Twitter posts along with a
character chatter page that will include a live season finale fan chat.
In the epicurean and travel worlds, Lexus will be the presenting
sponsor of a new editorial platform from Travel + Leisure and CNN called
"100 Places to Eat Like a Local." This special series of print, digital
and broadcast content will uncover the best authentic, under-the-radar
places to eat around the globe. "100 Places to Eat Like a Local" will
encourage consumers to submit videos, photos, and reviews of their
favorite local spots that may be featured on-air, online or in print.
The final list of the top "100 Places to Eat Like a Local" will appear
in the April 2013 issue of Travel + Leisure.
The digital initiatives will also have a heavy prominence with
standard web executions, including banners and Full Episode Players.
Print executions will feature the LS and include a strong lifestyle
focus in publications such as Wired and Architectural Digest, as well as
in new luxury publications DuJour and Black Card Mag.
In addition to out-of-home focused billboards, and high-impact units
in New York City's Times Square and Washington D.C., placements in
private airports and executive lounges will target exclusive business,
corporate and private jet travelers.
Both broadcast spots will have a prominent presence in high-profile
sports properties such as the NFL, including NBC Sunday Night Football,
ESPN Monday Night Football, the NFL on Fox, and NFL network. They'll
also have heavy coverage on ESPN College Football and NCAA basketball on
CBS. These placements will be bolstered with Halftime sponsorships on
NFL Network Thursday Night Football and ESPN College Football. In
addition, the campaign will align with more than 25 cable networks,
including CNN, USA, E!, TNT, Food Network, ESPN, Style and others. The
spots are also available at www.YouTube.com/lexusvehicles
Like the title say's, this is a video of Chicken Shack employee knocking his boss the fuck out for not paying him a wage he felt he deserved. So lets see, either pay the lunatic (who is twice your size) whatever minimum wage is multiplied by the five hours the guy probably worked that week or get your fucking jaw shattered. Tough choice. The boss obviously chose door number two and while we never see what happened to him, we know the strung-out employee connected mightily and he swung so fucking hard that he actually caught air (see above). In the bosses defense, the employee kept saying that the boss had five minutes to pay him his money, yet, less than 45 seconds later the guy peels his polo off, blows his top and cold cocks the boss. I mean, for fuck's sake, that wasn't nice. He could have been a man of his word and gave the boss a few moments to write him a check for $48. What an asshole. Anyway, the video is below and I hope you brought your appetite for racial slurs and violence.
We know that Drake is a BlackBerry user and uses them to write his music on. What we didn’t know (and I’m sure some of you didn’t either) is that his freestyles that we hear such as this one could very well be “pre-styles.” In this video, we see him reading lyrics off a BlackBerry (I’m gonna say its a Bold 9000) and rapping from it. This was for HOT 97, a radio station in New York and everyone hearing it on the air would take it as a freestyle not knowing he’s got a database of rhymes in front of his face.
AT&T doesn’t want drivers to text and drive and launched its “It Can Wait” campaign earlier in the spring of 2010. To really get people thinking about the damages that can happen while texting and driving, they’ve commissioned a documentary called The Last Text, and it focuses on a few young lives that have been impacted or even cut short due to texting while on the road. It features some very emotional stuff, while still relaying an important message. Take a look at the video…it’s sure to make you think twice about texting and driving!
It all started with that simple iPod connector that debuted in 2003 in BMWs and MINIs. The idea of connecting technology from outside the car and allowing it to power the infotainment center in the dash. Fast forward seven years and MINI has finally taken a giant leap with MINI Connected.
In fact leap isn’t even the right word. In reality Connected is a watershed moment in automotive technology for the simple fact that it takes software development out of seven year automotive cycles. And equally important it introduces app like mentality that allows for software development to focus on new features that are built on robust platform. That means MINI can tailor the Connected app and your car’s future functionality for whatever comes next in the world of technology. What’s going to be hot in 2013? We have no idea. But in 2013 MINI can update MINI Connected and have it there ready for you.
Or you can also think of it this way; Connected allows MINI related functionality to be driven by your iPhone and then displayed on MINI’s new gorgeous hi-res display all while being controlled by the center joystick. It takes the phone out of your hand and makes the car the interface for your life.
At the recent press launch of the 2011 MINI range, we had a chance to walk-through MINI Connected with BMW Senior Engineer Robert Passaro (one of the lead engineers of MINI Connected). Robert not only talked us through each feature but gave us some background on the technology and why it was built. The idea (as mentioned above) is all about decoupling the car from the technology.
But we’ll let Robert walk you through the system. Here’s a quick video of Robert and myself going through Connected. (video after the break)
It was interesting to hear from him first hand about the MINI Connected delay for the US market. The official reason is that MINI was waiting to finalize the additional features (listed below) before they brought the option to their largest market. MINI didn’t think Connected was as compelling as it needed to be with just we radio, RSS and Twitter.
For the record here’s the current list of features on the European app (which will be updated when the US version comes out):
Web radio
RSS news reader
Twitter client (with auto populated tweets optional that know location, temp and time)
And now here’s the full list of features that the US app will have (combined with the list above):
Google local search
Google send to car
Dynamic music (creates music based on your driving and what your doing (ie turn signal, acceleration, cornering)
“Minimizer” (tells you how to optimize the way you drive for better efficiency)
(original feature) Web radio
(original feature) RSS news reader
(original feature) Twitter client (with auto populated tweets optional that know location, temp and time)
Now that we’ve talked about the technology and what we’ll have when the US version of the app and option is released, let’s talk about how well MINI Connected actually works.
Of the three the RSS reader is the one that most cries out for either a larger screen or a different system interface. Because of the space used for the MINI infotainment interface navigating through the text (or even choosing the car to read the text) can be a little cumbersome.
Twitter on the other hand is extraordinarily simple. It allows your to choose between posting your own update or choosing from three canned tweets that contain GPS, speed or temperature data to creating something vaguely compelling (ie I’m motoring on I94 and it’s 54 degrees).
By far the most interesting of the featuring in 1.0 is the web radio. The system (much like iTunes radio option) allows you to choose one of thousands of web radio stations all over the world. Even MINI has a handful of stations from Europe that stream music wirelessly. It’s incredibly compelling and would kill the need for Sirius in my next car.
All the functionality of course relies on your iPhone’s connection to broadband data. But what does this mean for owners without unlimited data plans? We spoke to MINI about this and based on some quick calculations they’ve done, even if you used MINI Connected to stream video five days a week for two hours a day (a pretty long commute) you’d only reach around 1GB. AT&T for example has two plans; one with 250MB and another with 2GB. Clearly the 2GB will be a good idea with MINI Connected. Of course that doesn’t count many iPhone owners who are still grandfathered in with old unlimited plans.
The app currently supports five languages and will be expanding in 2011. And speaking of expanding MINI didn’t give anything away in regards to what platform is next. However if we had to guess (from reading body language) it would likely have to be some form of Android. Of course what form and what flavor of Android it’ll be compatible with is anyone’s guess. After that we’d guess a stripped down version would be available for Blackberry.
But there was one more technology we got to play with at the 2011 MINI press launch; iPod out. Ever since that first iPod/car connection in 2003 automakers have been struggling to create a way to control iPods and now iPhones. To answer this MINI and Apple have worked together to create a standard called iPod out. The technology enables the MINI Connected system to display the familiar iPod navigation menu in the vehicle’s main center speedo display, and control the music playback features in the iPhone, the iPod touch and the latest generation iPod nano, using the vehicle’s controls.
The interface is designed by Apple and because it’s symbiotic, it’s very fast. Better yet, features can be added by Apple courtesy of updates to the iOS. It’s the ultimate way to get your iPhone or iPod playing through your MINI.
MINI Connected is a technology that is good and about to get much better. It’s an automaker ceding control to allow for better technology, more integration and future proofing of the cars we buy. For MINI it’s an easy way to always make sure the customer has the entertainment and functionality they want. For us it’s an easy way to always have the latest technology in our cars. It’s a classic win win and we can’t wait to see it hit the US market-place.
Recently (using Kid Capri's voice) The World Famous KIIIIIID Capri! and Digiwaxx released a new mix dubbed DIGIWAXX RADIO 6: Kid Capri . This 1 hour and 20 minute mix features the legendary DJ cutting, scratching, beat juggling your favorite authentic throwback joints from the 70's, 80's and 90's (you can hear the dust popping off of the vinyl). Break beats, originals you name it. He even plays the theme from the Geico commercial with the caveman. In this mix, Kid Capri proves to us why he's a legend in the DJ game. On behalf of all dj's out there, thank you. This mix is what the music industry needed. This what the DJ game needed.
