Aston Martin unveils its Formula One contender, the AMR22

The Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team today proudly unveiled its 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship contender, a century on from the ultra-luxury marque’s first entry into Grand Prix racing.

The stunning AMR22 symbolically revealed on Aston Martin’s sports car assembly line at Gaydon, is the latest addition to its proud racing bloodline, with the British manufacturer celebrating the centenary of its maiden Grand Prix at the 1922 French Grand Prix.

The brand’s return to the pinnacle of motorsport with the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team is a key element of the new era at Aston Martin, as it unleashes its potential as an iconic ultra-luxury performance brand with 109 years of history and a breath-taking line-up of new products.

Shining a spotlight on Aston Martin’s engineering mastery, the AMR22  launch event featured three of the newest members of Aston Martin’s high-performance product portfolio.

The world’s most powerful luxury SUV, DBX707, and two models which directly feature technology and expertise from Formula One, the ultimate no rules hypercar, Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro, and the mid-engine plug-in hybrid supercar, Valhalla.

Data from the 2021 season demonstrates that the global platform of Formula One is heightening brand desirability and product familiarity for Aston Martin, as the sport enjoys growing popularity worldwide.

During the thrilling 2021 world championship season, Aston Martin saw a 15% increase in website traffic to astonmartin.com on Grand Prix Sundays, compared to non-race Sundays.

This increased to 25% on weekends where Aston Martin Lagonda supplied the Official Safety & Medical Car of Formula One, with the Vantage enjoying global exposure during the dramatic season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Cumulatively, the brand benefitted from 22,701 hours of global television exposure during the 2021 season, in addition to reaching millions on social media, with the launch of the Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team in January 2021 the brand’s best performing Twitter post of all time.

The AMR22, to be raced by four-time F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel and rising star Lance Stroll, carries a new 2022 Aston Martin Racing Green livery celebrating Aston Martin’s traditional racing colors and glorious sporting legacy.

The team’s new campaign ‘We Climb Together’ aims to inspire the team and its millions of fans with the story of Aston Martin’s origins, with founder Lionel Martin and his wife Kate taking part in the Aston Hill Climb.

Lawrence Stroll, Executive Chairman of Aston Martin Lagonda, said: “The return of Aston Martin to Formula One has been a monumental moment for the brand, with transformative impact for our performance credentials and global awareness.

Through the race team and our status as the Official Safety & Medical Car of Formula One, we have been able to showcase our product and test new technologies on the world’s greatest circuits.

“Formula One is enjoying tremendous popularity, particularly in our key focus markets like the USA and China, helping to amplify the Aston Martin brand, engage a new generation of customers and define our unique position in the crosshairs of ultra-luxury and high-performance.”

Tobias Moers, Chief Executive Officer of Aston Martin Lagonda, said: “Our involvement in Formula One has already had an uplifting impact on all our employees and customers, helping us bring an agile Formula One performance mindset to the whole Aston Martin business and reinjecting our racing DNA into our next generation of products.

“Seeing the AMR22 on the assembly line at Gaydon today, alongside our flagship new models like Valhalla, Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro, and DBX707 is a great example of how we are creating a culture of engineering excellence at Aston Martin, establishing a dynamic and exciting innovation lab to drive forward future Aston Martin road car technologies and performance.”

The Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team begins the 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship season at the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix on 20 March 2022.

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Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro hands-on, first impressions

01/14/2021

CES may almost be over but not without Samsung introducing its new line of products. As expected, the company released its newest flagship line, the Galaxy S21 series and alongside these three new smartphones is the company’s newest true wireless offering, the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro.

The new Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro adopts a couple of design cues from the previously released Galaxy Buds Live. We’ve still got that rather small rounded square charging case with its LED indicator light sitting at the bottom. But unlike the Buds Live, we aren’t getting a shiny bean-shaped earbud but a shiny pebble-shaped one instead.

In our short time with the device, we found it provided a good, comfortable fit overall. Audio is delivered by a 6.5mm tweeter mated with an 11mm woofer. On-board is a 3-microphone system with Wind Shield sound technology for better vocal clarity. The buds also carry IPX7 water resistance so you won’t have to worry if the device gets wet.

Samsung boasts of the Galaxy Buds Pro’s active noise cancelation that’s able to filter out up to 99% of background noise. The device also provides adjustments for its noise-canceling feature. You can, for example, lower the noise cancelation levels to low if you’re in a quieter environment. The Ambient sound mode, which lets in ambient noise, also has four levels of adjustment to suit all kinds of situations.

But a more exciting feature can be found on Samsung’s newest true wireless earbuds, the Intelligent Active Noise-canceling. By combing both ANC and Ambient sound technology, the Galaxy Buds Pro is able to intelligently and automatically switch between modes. The Galaxy Buds Pro can detect when one is speaking or being spoken to and will switch to ambient sound so the user can hear voices. Once the device detects that the conversation has finished, it will then switch back to noise cancelation and bring back the audio or music volume to the last setting.

We were able to put this to the test and can verify that the intelligent switching between modes does work. We’re not just sure how this will play out with prolonged usage or how much faster is the battery being drained when this feature is on.

We found this to be a very convenient feature. The buds weren’t able to detect just voice but also loud sounds or disturbances which will possibly be helpful in certain situations. Noise cancellation can be turned on via the Galaxy Wearable app, widget, Bluetooth settings, or even Bixby voice commands.

The Galaxy Buds Pro also offers an Auto Switch feature exclusive to the Samsung Galaxy ecosystem. As the name suggests, the Galaxy Buds Pro will be able to seamlessly switch its connection between active Galaxy devices. If you’re watching on a Galaxy tablet, for example, and you get an incoming call from your Galaxy phone, you simply have to answer the call and the earbuds will automatically switch its connection to the phone. Once the call ends, it will switch back its connection to the tablet and you can continue watching.

Samsung says the Galaxy Buds Pro can provide one-hour playtime with a 5-minute charge. Additionally, it will be available in three different colors. It’s a promising device but we need to spend more time with it before we can give our verdict.

If you have any questions about the device, just jump on the comments section and join the discussion.

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