Uniting superior sound quality with sleek design for convenient on-the-go listening

January 2008 — Bang & Olufsen, the Danish manufacturer of high end audio and video products, presents the new BeoSound 6 mp3 player at the 2008 CES in Las Vegas. BeoSound 6 achieved an Innovations Honoree award this year in the Personal Electronics category.

Constructed of robust, durable, materials, BeoSound 6 delivers quality craftsmanship, clear CD sound quality due to its high performance on signal-to-noise playback, and up to 40 hours of battery life, making it the standout option among other mp3 players on the market. BeoSound 6 allows user-friendly simple operation and navigation of music files and comes complete with an exclusive leather carrying case and travel charger as well as the highly acclaimed A8 Earphones.

Sound that is true to the source

Bang & Olufsen is world renowned for acoustical excellence, thus a strong emphasis on sound performance has been put into the development of BeoSound 6. It is based on a technical platform by Samsung and the design, user interaction, and acoustic engineering — such as the high performance on signal-to-noise – has been implemented by Bang & Olufsen. The annoying background noise common with many digital music players is nearly eliminated in BeoSound 6. The sound is reproduced as neutrally and naturally as possible, so the musical detail remains pure, as if one is listening to the original source.
The bass boost function in BeoSound 6 has been optimized to suit the A8 Earphones. The dynamic full-tone earphones are mounted on a telescopic bar and constructed according to the open loudspeaker principle, which allows a non-intrusive amount of surrounding noise to be heard at lower volume levels. Therefore, one is never entirely cut off from the outside world when using the A8 Earphones, to better ensure safety.

A match for every ear

Sound quality is affected by the placement of earphones in one’s ear, which is why the A8 Earphones are equipped with small foam rubber covers. This provides more comfort and also compensates for any sound leakage that might occur in situations where the user’s ear is significantly bigger than the ear bud.

Constructed of lightweight, resilient rubber and aluminium, the A8 Earphones weigh less than one ounce each, and offer an elegant mechanical design that ensures a precise adjustment to each individual ear. The A8 Earphones have a secure fit that won’t fall off easily and are sleek enough to be worn together with glasses, making them perfect for active use on the move.

Easy to organize

Bang & Olufsen has developed a simple and free software solution, BeoPlayer, which accesses and organizes all music files on one’s PC, and conveniently transfers them to BeoSound 6. BeoPlayer can instantly download MP3 and WMA music files and convert AAC files, and also includes clip art of CD covers. With the capacity to hold 1,000 songs, the music possibilities are endless with BeoSound 6.
Simple and elegant design
BeoSound 6 features a sleek, minimalist design with its stainless steel frame surrounding the sides and black scratch-resistant LCD display. The soft-touch lacquered back surface allows BeoSound 6 to rest easy in the hand while operating the keypad placed underneath the front display. The rectangular touchpad is used for menu navigation and the surrounding rubber keypad for playback functions.

When switched on, BeoSound 6 presents an overview of five user scenarios, all accessible with the touch of a button. The five scenarios make it possible to start immediate playback of the tracks downloaded to the music player, or sort the personal music collection by artist, album, genre and play list. While playing music, the user can choose to display the cover art of the specific album alone or with music tags.
BeoSound 6 features an extended battery life, allowing up to 40 hours of playback – almost twice the market standard. The navigation bar indicates when the battery needs charging with a color change.
BeoSound 6 will be available in all Bang & Olufsen showroom locations throughout North America by late Fall 2007. MSRP $600.00 USD

Specifications
Designer Steffen Schmelling
Dimensions (H x W x D) 3.6 x 1.7 x 0.5 in (90.7 x 42.7 x 12.2 mm)
Weight 2.3 oz (65 g)
Finish Polished stainless steel/soft-touch lacquered plastic
Memory 4 GB
Display 1.81 Inch TFT LCD 128 x 160 pixels
Supported audio formats MP3, WMA, OGG
Operating system PC Windows XP SP2
MAC iTunes: BeoSound 6 plug-in needed
Interface USB 1.1. (USB 2.0 high speed support)
Mass Storage Mode
Battery Built-in, rechargeable, approx. 40 hours playing time
Mains voltage 100 – 240 V AC
Connections Earphones, USB and mains adaptor via 18 pin connector
Included accessories Bang & Olufsen A8 Earphones, USB-cable, travel charger and leather carrying case

This iPod accessory sounds cooler that it is, but then looks cooler than it sounds. I think? It’s wireless headphones for your iPod Shuffle. Except they’re not really wireless. Confused? It actually a head phone system that allows the lightweight Shuffle to snap right into it. I think it could actually work. I’ve got a shuffle and it’s certainly light enough. Plus you’ve got the cool benefit of looking like you’re walking around with a giant spider on the back of your head. A spider that listens to an iPod. More at: cnet.com

Pretty amazing story. This guys’ iPod saved his life in Iraq. He was ambushed by an insurgent on the streets of Tikrit and shot in the chest at close range with an Ak-47. The iPod (an HP 20gb no less), slowed the bullet enough to save his life. He’s probably lucky he was carrying a 20Gig’er and not a Shuffle! Is there any provision in Apple care for having your ipod destroyed by insurgent gun fire? I guess it’s just one more thing for us Apple fans to gloat about.

[Flickr] 

If you’re just too cool for an iPod, might we suggest a Gresso MP3 player. The Symphonia Collection consist of hand-crafted MP3 player made from rare African blackwood and 18 Carat Gold. They can even be worn around your neck as jewelry. Trust us, get one of these things and you’ll stand out from the crown - mainly because at $6,000 your going to have to sell one of your kidneys to afford one. [Via CoolHunder.net]

If you’re tired of Apple’s earbuds falling out of your ears then give a listen to Bose In-Ear Headphones. They come silicone tips in three sizes to keep them comfortably in your ears. They also makes use of something called Triport® Acoustic Headphone Structure, which is a real fancy way of saying they sound better than your Apple earbuds. I’m curious to see if the wires spontaneously tangle themselves like a giant ball of Christmas lights, like the earbuds do. Love the iPod, hate the tangle.

Knock the eyes off those old potatoes under your kitchen counter. And don’t worry about those failing iPod rechargables. It’s potato power to the rescue. And you might want to polish up that crown as well, because when you whip out a pair of spuds to fire up your MP3 player your definitely going to be crowned king of the geeks.

Instructables has an interesting post on turning your Holga Camera into an MP3 player. Say what? Yeah, exactly. Apparently by using a MakeMP3 kit you can turn the camera into the most confusing gadget ever. Holga’s are very cool but I think I’d rather use them to take snap like this and leave my portable music playback in the hands of my trusty 8-track player. You can flip those things over you know.