Bang & Olufsen shows off Beo 5 remote control

Shortly after blessing us with a sneak peek at its BeoVision 8, Bang & Olufsen is now showcasing its interestingly-designed Beo 5 remote control. This device seeks to dictate your AV system and dabble in home automation, and touts a "square glass display with soft touch keys, an aluminum ball with tactile keys and a volume wheel," and a simple charging base as well. Of course, it wouldn't be a B&O unit without a few fanciful extras, such as the adaptive backlight in the LCD, macro support, and an "intelligent" interface that "presents just the relevant menus and controls" on the display. Unsurprisingly, there's no word yet surrounding price or availability, but feel free to check out a few more shots of the Beo 5 over at EngadgetHD's gallery.

[Thanks, klaus]

[CJ @ Sep 6th 2007 9:25AM]

Its damn ugly. But I love Bang and Olufsen, I'll check it out in the store soon.

[maddan @ Sep 6th 2007 5:05PM]

Bang & O always ahead of the design curve..ugly only to those who don't understand the true "beauty" of function over form..I love it..good job Endgadget thanks for the teaser on one of my fav mfgs new product!!

Peace & Continued Blessings
Maddan

[GuyJ86 @ Sep 6th 2007 9:53AM]

Ewwww its very overpriced for what it is. In my opinion there are better ways to get great sounding and looking kit.

B&W and Arcam make a great combo

[Simon Betty @ Sep 6th 2007 9:56AM]

Overpriced? theres no price set, so this is bassicly a remote control yeah? so say i have a plasma, a blu-ray player, i can use this 2 control tham?

[Shane @ Sep 6th 2007 10:32AM]

It's B&O...Trust me...It will be pricey for what it is...

Yes, you could probably use it to control your gear. I doubt they would make it ONLY able to control B&O equipment.

[rav97 @ Sep 6th 2007 9:57AM]

From the photo it looks like you can also play Simon Says with it :D

[Shane @ Sep 6th 2007 10:12AM]

I like my remotes to actually fit in my hand, thank you very much...This looks to be the least ergonomic remote control I have ever seen. I'm sure the features and huge pricetag make up for that though...

[Scooter @ Sep 6th 2007 10:36AM]

B&O were the only ones who might (once) have rivaled Apple for design kudos, but were always too elitist and, frankly, slow. This is a case in point: there is no need for physical buttons, just a touch screen.

[Shane @ Sep 6th 2007 10:54AM]

Look at the bottom part of the remote...The "ball" that is supposed to sit in your hand. That is where the buttons are.

PS: I would have to agree on the design comments. B&O has some very slick gear but it certainly has a very niche market due to the price point and the fact that some of their designs aren't entirely practical...But then again, when you've got that kind of money to spend, who cares about practical!

[splogue @ Sep 6th 2007 11:14AM]

Looks like if you dial the right glyphs, a stargate will open.

[LikesGadgetsWillTravel @ Sep 6th 2007 12:22PM]

The "square glass display" doesn't look square.

[Marshall @ Sep 6th 2007 12:42PM]

Notice in their video that they use a different camera angle, which does not show how to hold on to the base, when the top left of the screen is getting used. I think this is because you couldn't actually use your thumb on the top left while holding onto the remote the way you can for the bottom buttons on the screen. Perhaps a little more money spent on ergonomic design (and a little less on marketing) would have been in order.

[Jacob J @ Sep 6th 2007 1:36PM]

Mark Levinson makes better audio products than B&O in my opinion. The ML system in my Lexus produces a noticeably higher-quality sound than the B&O sound system in my brother's Audi.

[PAllen @ Sep 23rd 2007 7:08PM]

To my ears mbl sound is better than B&O,