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Listening to music is now as easy
as turning on the lights. Bang &
Olufsen launches a luxuriously
simple new sound system.
Bang & Olufsen announces the launch of BeoSound Essence – a new sound
system offering the simplest way yet to add more music to your life –just
by one touch.
2014 International CES, Las Vegas, 7 January 2014
The conflict of opportunities
Most of the digital music that we can access from cloud-based music
services or have stored on our phones and tablets stays there. We’re often
too busy to find it, turn on the sound system and connect. So we never
really listen to anything new or as much as we would like to because it gets
too complicated.
A game changer
BeoSound Essence changes the game. Now, one touch, and one touch only,
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is all it takes to start enjoying more of your favourite music in premium
quality – every day.
The latest launch from Bang & Olufsen is a radically simple approach to
accessing the ever-expanding panoply of digital music possibilities, whether
they’re in the cloud, on your computer, NAS, mobile phone or tablet.
Place a BeoSound Essence Remote wherever it’s convenient, for example
on the wall next to the light switch, and start listening to your favourite
music when you walk into the room. Or put another one next to your
toaster to add wake-up tunes to your morning menu. A simple touch is all it
takes. Another touch lets you skip between playlist tracks or internet radio
stations. You can also mute the music and adjust the volume - and that’s it.
It’s all about access
Over the last couple of years Bang & Olufsen has made significant
investment to map out how people live with digital music and how music
consumption has changed since the arrival of digital music and streaming
services. In addition to conducting ethnographic and behavioural research
projects in Europe, China and the US, Bang & Olufsen’s annual Innovation
Camp dedicated to conceptual design and development of innovative
products, has been leveraged to pioneer new innovation within sound and
design.
“BeoSound Essence is all about giving people easy access to their favourite
music in Bang & Olufsen quality,” explains Bang & Olufsen CEO Tue
Mantoni. “By applying our behavioural and ethnographic studies of how
people live and live with music we have developed the simplest user
interface available in the market for people who do not accept a
compromise in terms of quality and performance. BeoSound Essence
builds on Bang & Olufsen’s heritage of understanding user behaviour and
technology and breaking new ground to make things simple”.
The BeoSound Essence sound system consists of two components: an
aluminium BeoSound Essence Remote with true Bang & Olufsen touch and
movement, and a hide-away box that contains everything you don’t need
to worry about to make the magic happen. The box is the centre for AirPlay
streaming, DLNA streaming, Spotify Connect, QPlay and thousands of
global internet radio stations.
The Bang & Olufsen sound
Combine the BeoSound Essence sound system with any pair of Bang &
Olufsen active speakers and achieve an outstanding acoustic experience
that is instantly accessible now – and ready for the future
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BeoMusic App
In connection with the launch of BeoSound Essence, Bang & Olufsen also
introduce the BeoMusic app, which makes it easy controlling the music from
both iOS and Android devices. The App is the perfect companion for
intuitively browsing and playing music from the mobile, PC or NAS device,
as well as accessing global internet radio stations.
Availability and pricing
BeoSound Essence will be available at Bang & Olufsen stores worldwide this
spring. Recommended retail price: USD 995 for a sound system consisting
of a wall-mounted BeoSound Essence Remote and hide-away box, and USD
200 for additional wall-mounted or table top BeoSound Essence Remotes.
Discover BeoSound Essence at bang-olufsen.com/essence.
Note: AirPlay pending final certification.
For more information please contact:
Corporate Communication
Bang & Olufsen a/s
Phone: +45 96 84 51 00
Fax: +45 96 84 50 33
Bang & Olufsen was founded in Struer, Denmark, in 1925 by Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen,
two innovative, young engineers devoted to high quality audio reproduction. Since then, the
brand has become an icon of performance and design excellence through its long-standing
craftsmanship tradition and the strongest possible commitment to high-tech research and
development.
Still at the forefront of domestic technology, Bang & Olufsen has extended its comprehensive
experience with integrated audio and video solutions for the home to other areas such as the
hospitality and automotive industries in recent years. Consequently, its current product range
epitomizes seamless media experiences in the home as well as in the car and on the move.
For more information on Bang & Olufsen, please visit www.bang-olufsen.com.
Images are available free of charge from the Bang & Olufsen media centre:
http://mediacenter.bang-olufsen.dk. If you are a first-time visitor, please follow the
instructions and register as a new user.