Welcome to AdFeeder’s web Wednesdays, your weekly dose of the latest news and stories that have caught our eye. From technology news to the latest vehicle releases and everything in between, we aim to bring you a quick run down of what you need to know each week.
A week of mixed emotions in this edition, expect a healthy dose of Apple rumours and news from an icon of the motoring world!
Is the world going to see an Apple car?
What exactly do you think a car made by Apple would look like? Sleek, refined and hellishly expensive? Perhaps – but whether we’ll actually see the finished product is another story. This is a rumour that has stood the test of time, nearly ten years in fact, but when Apple first announced it was creating an operating system to be used inside a car the stories really started to ramp up.
Apple has always had a reputation for throwing fans and the press off the scent, Steve Jobs was a master at casually dropping huge bombshells during his keynotes, coining the brilliant term ‘One more thing’. In recent years Apple haven’t been able to really stun the world with new products, partly down to the sheer amount of news reporting and insider knowledge, therefore it would suggest someone must know if a car is being designed by Apple at least.
Logistically speaking, it’s completely untouched territory for Apple too. Adding Carplay to vehicles is one thing, but having the infrastructure to create a bespoke vehicle is a monumental task. Apple aren’t likely to collaborate either, the company works at its own pace and very rarely needs to join with other brands.
Hypothetically speaking though, could you see Apple producing a premium vehicle that would rival the likes of Tesla and Mercedes? Or would they jump that market entirely and target the ultra rich?
Nigel Mansell sneaks up to gives his good friend, ITV’s racing commentator, Murray Walker a pat on the head
The world mourns the death of the ‘Voice of F1’
This weekend we learnt the devastating news that an icon in motorsport has passed away aged 97. Murray Walker spent 23 years as lead commentator for the UK coverage of Formula One, forming alliances with some of motorsport’s elite in the commentary box, including Martin Brundle and of course, James Hunt,
He began commentating in 1949, and covered almost every aspect of motorsport, from the Isle of Man TT to rallying and hill climbs. A busy task for most, but Murray did all of this while working full time in the advertising industry – working with huge clients such as Mars, Vauxhall and Weetabix. This is what really made Murrary special, his infectious passion for motorsport led painted a vibrant picture for the viewer, adding drama and the odd mistake as the race unfolded.
It’s impossible to talk about Murray Walker without mentioning some of his ‘Murrayisms’ – making headlines in newspapers the next day for making a mistake on live TV, which would knock the confidence of many, but for Murray it was proof of just how involved he was in the race. He felt every apex, every pit stop and every battle, and was able to articulate that through the form of voice.
Despite retiring from commentating in 2001, he was often seen wandering around the pitlanes and starting grids before racing got underway, soaking up every element of the thing he loved most, racing.
So as the motor racing world mourns the loss of Walker, his character and passion for racing will live on for generations to come.
How Facebook is teaching itself to read photos
Now we all know Facebook is clever, sometimes too clever. The platform is constantly learning and developing to ensure its algorithm is consistent and fair. Traditionally, algorithms have been trained on datasets which have already been categorised by humans – labelled cats, dogs or flowers, for example.
Adding these labels, naturally takes time – something that Facebook wants to speed up. Instagram photos were presented to the algorithm without the labelling and afterwards it was able to correctly identify images with an impressive 84.5% accuracy, Facebook has reported.
Go Facebook, but why do we care?
The idea is to allow computers to have more common sense, allowing them to create more unbiased decisions without the need of human interaction, which can sometimes cause a bias. Facebook’s example was around women being more likely to be labelled by their physical attributes such as their hair or their smile, while men get tagged with words like “official” and “business” – when categorised by humans.
Going forward, algorithms will be hot on the lips of many companies both big and small, whilst this sort of technique has already seen success in algorithms dealing with processing language, images present a different challenge.
MINI set to become fully electric by 2030
Known for their rich heritage, handsome looks and go kart handling, the MINI is often regarded as the best hatchback of its generation. It’s a firm favourite with the AdFeeder team too, owning multiple variants over the years. But – will the world still love them when they go fully electric?
Quite simply – we think yes. Perhaps even more than now. The brand is planning to introduce its final combustion engined model in 2025, aiming for half of its global sales to be electric by 2027. From 2030, the point at which regular combustion car sales will be banned in the UK, the brand will sell exclusively electric vehicles.
There have been rumours of an ‘all electric family’ range coming soon, where MINI teased a strange autonomous MPV known as the ‘Urbanaut’. We’d happily let that concept collect dust in the drawer of BMW CEO Oliver Zipse, as that’s not what MINI is all about. Whilst sales of the Clubman and Countryman have been steady, the appeal for a MINI hatch and convertible is very much rocketing, with their recently launched fully electric Cooper S E model proving a hit too. MINI have the chance to make electric cars cool, removing the gimmicks and misconceptions of what has hindered electric cars in the past. The Cooper S E looks exactly like a regular MINI, and that’s why it works!
Elliot is our resident tech-lover and petrolhead, who is in charge of spreading AdFeeder to the masses! Having previously worked with brands such as Porsche and BMW, Elliot specialises in content creation and social media.
