Hardware

Bang & Olufsen Create iPad, iPhone, iPod Dock

In many ways Apple and B&O are very similar, they both take a huge interest in design and creation and do not generally release a product until it has been through very rigorous testing. The new BeoSound 8 looks like the perfect dock, whether you have an iPhone, iPad or iPod, this dock will accept all and sound fantastic. I can’t wait to try one.

 

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Think of a room, any room. A bedroom, guest room, or open-plan kitchen? In a summerhouse, chic apartment, or family home? Now just add BeoSound 8 to fill up your room with Bang & Olufsen sound and style. If you keep your music on an iPad, iPhone, iPod or computer, you are essentially all set to discover the iconic style and breathtaking sound quality that has made Bang & Olufsen one of the most sought-after names in home audio.

BeoLink

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We haven’t had the advantage of testing the BeoSound 8 with the BeoLink iPhone app but apparently it should work. So you can close the curtains, dim the lights and adjust the music, all with a single tap on your iPhone or iPod touch. The Bang & Olufsen home automation (BeoLink) controls all systems of modern homes; audio, video, lighting, curtains etc. BeoLink for iPhone puts all this power in your pocket.

Using Wi-Fi , BeoLink for iPhone controls Bang & Olufsen products and other home automation devices in your home, via the Master Link Gateway.

You get a simple and intuitive iPhone app built with Bang & Olufsen’s exceptional ergonomics and ease of operation, that is an experience in itself.

A simple swipe with your finger changes the channel or raises the volume, without even looking away from the TV screen.

A quick tap and the mood of the room changes completely, including lighting, temperature, music and more.

Features:
– controls Bang & Olufsen’s products in your BeoLink network.
– finger gestures: control your home without looking at the phone screen.
– automation scenes: completely change the mood of a room, or of the whole house.
– automatically generates the screens to match your home set-up.
– discovers Master Link Gateway units automatically, and downloads your home configurations.
– supports multiple homes and multiple user profiles.
– a demo mode is also included to preview the experience.

Requirements:
– Bang & Olufsen products connected via BeoLink network.
– Bang & Olufsen Master Link Gateway in the same network as your iPhone or iPod Touch.
– Only works via local Wi-Fi network. 3G access not supported.

This is a free app and you can download it here

Wall Hanging

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Move BeoSound 8 from room to room or hang it on a wall. All you need is a power outlet, your music player of choice, and a desire for real sound quality. Secure your iPad, iPhone, or iPod firmly in the adjustable holder and prepare for a surprise. The sleek speaker design gives little clue about the fidelity and depth of the sound that is about to come your way.
The conical shape of the speakers on BeoSound 8 has two functions. Design-wise, the shapes ‘disappear’ to create an unobtrusive impression from most viewing angles and make placement easier. In terms of audio quality, they eliminate standing waves by avoiding parallel surfaces. It may sound very technical, but you’ll find that the proof is in the experience.

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Playing music from your own phone, computer, or media player gives you the advantage of a familiar navigation environment. In addition, you can now download an app version of the sleek and stylish BeoPlayer for your docked iPad, iPhone, or iPod. You can also adjust sound levels and skip tracks quickly and conveniently on BeoSound 8 itself. Music on a docked or USB linked device can be controlled via the dedicated round remote control or of course your existing Beo4 or Beo5 remote controls if you already own other Bang & Olufsen equipment.
To match your personal taste and the room you place it in, BeoSound 8 comes in either black or white with aluminum details and matching power cord. When you feel the need to add a splash of color to the room, the list of options includes six fabric speaker covers in lavender blue, purple, green, yellow, black and white.
 

Room adaptation switch

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BeoSound 8 offers flexible placement options to fit easily in your living space. You can hang it on a wall using a custom wall bracket or place it on a side table, where the speakers will appear to float millimeters above the surface. The conical speaker backs are excellent if you prefer to place your BeoSound 8 in a corner. But a loudspeaker’s performance is strongly influenced by its physical position in the room, and a corner placement can be especially difficult, as the walls will tend to “play along”, muddling the bass level in particular. Luckily, Bang & Olufsen has a solution.

BeoSound 8 can be adjusted to its placement by means of a manual position switch, which adjusts the speakers’ performance according to whether the system is placed in a corner, against a wall, or standing freely. The three switch positions will change the equalization of primarily the bass channel according to a room response target based on a large number of measurements taken in different positions in different rooms.

This unique Bang & Olufsen feature was introduced to ensure accurate sound reproduction at all times with complete freedom of placement.

Adaptive Bass Linearisation (ABL)

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ABL is a Bang & Olufsen patented solution basically to get more bass in small spaces. It is a solution where we make use of the surplus capacity in the built-in amplifiers and driver units at normal listening levels, for a bass extension. With this, we get more bass than the loudspeaker would otherwise be able to produce. However, this solution entails a risk that the driver unit might not be able to handle the extra boosts at higher volume levels. To solve this, we have introduced an electric circuit to monitor the sound level, so when the music peaks in the lower frequency areas and maybe come close to distorting the sound quality or damaging the driver unit, the bass signal is reduced accordingly.

The price though, is reported to be around £900/$1445 when it goes on sale at the end of this month.

Joanne Carter, creator of the world’s most popular mobile photography and art website— TheAppWhisperer.com— TheAppWhisperer platform has been a pivotal cyberspace for mobile artists of all abilities to learn about, to explore, to celebrate and to share mobile artworks. Joanne’s compassion, inclusivity, and humility are hallmarks in all that she does, and is particularly evident in the platform she has built. In her words, “We all have the potential to remove ourselves from the centre of any circle and to expand a sphere of compassion outward; to include everyone interested in mobile art, ensuring every artist is within reach”, she has said. Promotion of mobile artists and the art form as a primary medium in today’s art world, has become her life’s focus. She has presented lectures bolstering mobile artists and their art from as far away as the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea to closer to her home in the UK at Focus on Imaging. Her experience as a jurist for mobile art competitions includes: Portugal, Canada, US, S Korea, UK and Italy. And her travels pioneering the breadth of mobile art includes key events in: Frankfurt, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Paris, Brazil, London. Pioneering the world’s first mobile art online gallery - TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com has extended her reach even further, shipping from London, UK to clients in the US, Europe and The Far East to a global group of collectors looking for exclusive art to hang in their homes and offices. The online gallery specialises in prints for discerning collectors of unique, previously unseen signed limited edition art. Her journey towards becoming The App Whisperer, includes (but is not limited to) working for a paparazzi photo agency for several years and as a deputy editor for a photo print magazine. Her own freelance photographic journalistic work is also widely acclaimed. She has been published extensively both within the UK and the US in national and international titles. These include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Popular Photography & Imaging, dpreview, NikonPro, Which? and more recently with the BBC as a Contributor, Columnist at Vogue Italia and Contributing Editor at LensCulture. Her professional photography has also been widely exhibited throughout Europe, including Italy, Portugal and the UK. She is currently writing several books, all related to mobile art and is always open to requests for new commissions for either writing or photography projects or a combination of both. Please contact her at: joanne@theappwhisperer.com