(Credit:
Bang & Olufsen )
Leave it to Bang & Olufsen to break the mold once again, this time with a TV under-screen speaker. While other manufacturers toil away with boring rectangles and cylindrical designs, the B&O wizards have gone a completely different geometric route: a triangle.
The "BeoLab 10" is a center speaker designed to work with the "BeoVision 4" HDTV. Mounted beneath the plasma, according to Audio Junkies, it uses its "Acoustic Lens Technology" to disperse sound 180 degrees with twin amplifiers.
And never leaving anything to chance, B&O is also planning to offer a range of grill covers to match any given decor. No pricing has been released yet but, given the company's reputation, the BeoLab 10 might require you to move into a smaller place to afford it.
(Credit:
T3)
Bang & Olufsen has always been driven by avant-garde designs, but its latest concept for a remote control may be crossing the line from innovation to science fiction. Apparently not satisfied with its previous efforts, no matter how bizarre they may be already, B&O is contemplating a model that requires no physical contact to operate. We're not kidding.
The aptly named "TouchLess" was inspired by germaphobic trends that are increasingly influencing product development, leading the company's design mavens to work on a device that would never be sullied by your bacteria-infested mitts. "Designed primarily for kitchen use, the TouchLess can control the cooker, washing machine, and boil a kettle from the comfort of your armchair," T3 says, as well as command the media center with simple Louis XIV-style wave of the hand. What's next for B&O R&D? A cloak of invisibility, of course.
(Credit:
Bang & Olufsen )
As promised by the annoying countdown clock on its teaser site for weeks, Bang & Olufsen and Samsung jointly unveiled their "Serenata" mobile phone today. And though it's been described as a successor to the much-discussed "Serene," you wouldn't know it by its design and features.
The Serenata is much more focused on music with built-in "hi-fi speakers," a docking station and 4GB of storage, far more than most other phones on the market. Particularly useful is a specific button that toggles back and forth from phone to music, which is then controlled by a navigation wheel and 2.4-inch color LCD. We're not sure about its claims to produce a quality bass through a "psycho-acoustic phenomenon" but if it starts to shatter your windows, a pair of ergonomic earphones are included.
Oh yeah, the phone part. The Serenata does away with traditional buttons and keypad, making calls with its "sensi-touch display" instead. In addition, its receiver speaker has been placed at the top of the phone to "make the sound of speech as authentic as possible," though we wonder if Samsung's designers just ran out of room after cramming in all the music features.
Finally, true to the serene theme of this line, the Serenata's "organic rounded shape alludes to pebbles shaped by ocean waves." We don't make this stuff up, honest.
(Credit:
SlashPhone)
Before iPhone fever erupted in full force, one of the more talked-about handsets was Bang & Olufsen's "Serene"--albeit in mixed reviews, to say the least. The bloom may be off that rose, but its successor may inspire renewed buzz in just a few weeks.
The "Serenata," the product of a collaboration between B&O and Samsung, has begun a countdown on a mysterious Web site, which says it's 17 days away as of this writing. SlashPhone says the handset is believed to be the SGH-F310 leaked last month and pictured here. Among the rumored details are a video and music player, 4GB of memory and 1.8-megapixel camera.
Mystery or not, next to B&O's new "Beo 5" remote, the Serenata looks downright tame.
(Credit:
Bang & Olufsen)
And here we thought the "Serene" phone was weird. Bang & Olufsen, normally one of our favorite tech-meisters, is again testing the limits of our imagination (if not patience) with another avant-garde design--from a remote control, of all things.
The new "Beo 5" eschews the compact and streamlined form favored by most of today's remotes, including its predecessor, instead looking something like a doorknob with an LCD glued onto it. Navigation is handled both by the click wheel on its aluminum ball handle and its touch screen, which has 12 "dynamic buttons" that can be programmed and positioned as needed, according to Fareastgizmos.
But perhaps its most appealing quality, at least to us, is its unique upright posture. Because anything that helps us avoid losing it is a huge plus.
(Credit:
Pocket-lint)
Bang & Olufsen is known for its minimalist good looks (though sometimes too minimalist), but it's taken the concept to new heights with its latest media appliance. Even the name--"DVD 2"--is irresistably Spartan.
So are its features, which may be a bit too limited for some people in this age of electronics that do everything but the dishes (and sometimes that too). The device does have a 250GB hard drive to go along with its DVD player and TV tuner but, as Pocket-lint says, it hardly qualifies as a "next-gen product." No matter to B&O, however, which remains as unabashed as ever in its Zen-like simplicity, right down to the design: The DVD 2 basically looks like a box of trays, perhaps a printer without the glass on top.
No price or availability is yet known, but if the company holds true to form, this gadget may cost more than the rest of your media room combined. Proving once again that simplicity should never be confused with affordability.
(Credit:
Engadget)
We can't imagine why, but some might say the world really doesn't need another MP3 player. But Bang & Olufsen rarely seems to play by conventional rules--or wisdom.
True to form, the high-end company has taken yet another unexpected turn. The "BeoSound 6" is surprisingly simple, as Engadget rightly observes, given the B&O reputation for flamboyance in its various products. But sometimes, less is more: As evidenced by the "BeoSound 2," unconventional form doesn't necessarily translate to exceptional quality.
The BeoSound 6 is nevertheless sleekly designed with its silver casing, spare controls and thin color LCD. One thing hasn't changed, however, is the company's penchant for exorbitant pricing--in this case, more than $800. But hey, if it turns out to be a piece of junk, you can always toss it in a blender and sell the remains on eBay.
(Credit:
Shiny Shiny)
As noted before, some of us at Crave are smitten by just about anything Bang & Olufsen designs (or even something that just resembles their stuff).
So it goes without saying that our heads were sufficiently turned by the sight of its newest "BeoVision" HDTV. As usual, this latest offering has some impressive features, not content to be just another pretty face; and, as usual, it bears a B&O-type price, this time 1,800 pounds (about $3,582). But Shiny Shiny notes something different in this TV's sound technology, specifically in speech reproduction: "When you're watching, it seems like the sound is actually coming out of the mouth of the person, rather than the speakers."
We don't know that this alone can justify the price (or if it's even true), but we'd be happy just to look at this TV while it's turned off.
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