TripEnglish:

09/15

Called my dealer today and he doesn't know anything about the new prices : ) 

That's for the US. As for the rest of the world, I can't comment.

Well, let's hope we get the same treatment : )

if only B&O could make Beosound/Master 5 work with iPhone/touch like my picture

I use iPhone to pilot my BeoMedia 1

 

Great picture!   I am jealous.  I hope the Beosound 5 will do something similiar, or I will need to take a look at an iPhone. Any idea if the iPhone could be used with Beoport in the same manner?

Though there's a lot of credit due to the designers of "coverflow," I think the point should be made that it's nothing but an aesthetic innovation. Things are still "stacked in time" in some logical sequence. You are scrolling a list based on common criteria.

The BeoSound 5, while it has its own striking way of sorting material, houses a different way of actually accessing the music. It can then be debated whether the cloverflow or the axis is nicer to look at, but there will be little debate that the BeoSound 5 offers a much more engaging way of "rediscovering" your music.

On a related note, I finally got to experience the whole iPhone as a remote thing with an airport express and it's pretty cool, but you still get what you pay for. I found that there wasn't sufficient "federalization" in the linked rooms. There was still too much activity at the computer desk for my taste. Could always improve, but for now I'd say the BeoSound 5 will safely capture the majority of hearts.

I am eagerly waiting to see what the Beosound 5 actually is....hope it lives up to expectations.

http://jessieshen.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/navigation-styles/

 

Mindmap like navigation. While you listen to 1 song it suggest you similar ones.  So you are not bound to the sequence of a CD but with a 2 way device you can define a sequence quick on the fly. Here is where Itunes Playlists leave much to be desired. 

 

Question is how to implement that. Based on BPM & category, maybe it learns from listening habits. Or maybe it is based on a song DB that B&O manages (which would be weak - I have funky music taste) 

If you have not tried out Thinkmap's Visual Thesaurus (http://www.visualthesaurus.com/) you should. Go to thier website and put in a word (you will be prompted to indicate that you are just trying the service) and you will see a nice dynamic display of the associtaed words. It gets very dynamic for ceratin words (usually common words) where there are lots of associations. The results grow in three dimensions, can be rotated, and adjust to the window in an entertaining way (governed by simple Newtonian/Maxwellian Laws). Although I had not thought of it prior to reading this thread, this type of software could be an excellent interface for music management and selection. The color coding allows one to follow word types (which could be transformed into genre) and the pop-up definitions could be liner notes and cover art.

you'd think they'd have learned their lesson the last time they took apple on

 

ah well.. 

jk1002:

Mindmap like navigation. While you listen to 1 song it suggest you similar ones.  So you are not bound to the sequence of a CD but with a 2 way device you can define a sequence quick on the fly.

 

this sounds vaguely similar to "last.fm" technology -does anyone use this?

jk1002:

Here is where Itunes Playlists leave much to be desired. 

perhaps young alex can help here... forgive my imagination w/ what i am about to say, but -why not a smart playlist that builds from the tag data?

This is where Applescripts come in and are your friend. iTunes is near infinitely expandable and modifiable, as demonstrated by Doug's Immensely Useful iTunes Applescripts page. And if you can't find the script you need, someone is bound to come up with one if you list what you want, usually within a couple of hours.

 

http://dougscripts.com/itunes/

I realy hope that B&O creates a true magical and ergonomical to use product and I am VERY sceptical that their solution can compete with SONOS or APPLE - on the other side I STRONGLY hope that they have some good brains there in Struer ;-)

I'm excited to see what they'll present! :-)

 

Flappo The Grate:

you'd think they'd have learned their lesson the last time they took apple on

 

ah well.. 

Apple doesn't have anything like the BeoSound 5 in it's product range.

Apple makes software, computers, phones and MP3 players, not HiFis. You put yourself in the firing line if you produce any of those.

Alex:

Apple doesn't have anything like the BeoSound 5 in it's product range.

But neither does B&O.

In the same way we're discussing a future B&O product (which could be on-sale as late as Feb 2009), we don't ever really know what Apple has around the corner.

moxxey:

Alex:

Apple doesn't have anything like the BeoSound 5 in it's product range.

But neither does B&O.

That'd be why B&O is introducing it

I popped in to a B&O store and spoke to I guy there. He said that almost every products will come in white limited to 1500 piece!!

Even BS 9000!!!!!

And I saw Beocom 2 in glossy white and it was SOOOOO nice

So we have much looking foward to I think.....

IThe BeoSound 5, while it has its own striking way of sorting material, houses a different way of actually accessing the music. It can then be debated whether the cloverflow or the axis is nicer to look at, but there will be little debate that the BeoSound 5 offers a much more engaging way of "rediscovering" your music.....

 

So, it seems that THIS is not even an argument for the Beosound 5 as Apple as a Softwaredesigner will implent this feature in iTunes 8:

http://www.macrumors.com/2008/09/03/itunes-8-playlist-recommendations-visualizations/

 

 It's getting VERY hard for B&O to compete here!

 

 

 

 

We won't know how BeoSound 5 will behave... yet, making it incomparable to 'iTunes 8' (which may not have the rumoured feature anyway).

Beo will compete on soundquality.

On top of that, a proper hardware interface to use will be a big bonus. My iTunes + Apple TV combo is all well and good, but it involves choosing from a list of music in iTunes which is not what music is about...

This idea isn't a new one and at least one music server out there already does it.  Qsonix licensed AMG's Tapestry solution to implement just such a solution - create a playlist or queue of similar songs to one that you choose.  You can create playlists in other ways by choosing certain criteria (mood, genre, year/decade of release, etc), but the similar song one is what many people will find most useful.

 For anyone who has used Pandora, you know exactly how powerful the result can be.  Of course, Pandora does the nest job I have seen of finding similar music to what your initial pick was and then further refines that by letting you thumbs up/down what is selected.  Other solutions use more basic qualities of the music but Pandora tags each song in their database with over 200 identifiers (hence their term "music genome project") like the gender of the lead vocalist, the kind of guitar used, etc.  I've had contact with their founder to encourage them to license the technology for use in a desktop app or plugin on an existing music collection (as of now they just stream the content from their website).

It will be interesting to see if Apple does something similar and how B&O implements this themselves.  What I find most interesting about the Apple possibility is if it then gets extended to the online store.  Now you are talking about real recommendations for new music purchases.  That's a revenue stream that would likely encourage a lot of sales.  Since there is also the rumor of an iTunes "unlimited" subscription model, this combination could be very interesting.  It all depends on how well the recommendation system works...

Jeff 

mr_anders_son:

I popped in to a B&O store and spoke to I guy there. He said that almost every products will come in white limited to 1500 piece!!

Even BS 9000!!!!!

And I saw Beocom 2 in glossy white and it was SOOOOO nice

So we have much looking foward to I think.....

I think that's so exciting! The white to me is quite retro but to others looks modern and chic. This just may appeal to both the younger and older generations. Wise move, as mentioned before, that they can use flawed aluminium with these white products. win win - they should make white cheaper though seriously.

and  Beocom 2 comes even in GOLD for our Russian friends

mr_anders_son:

"almost every products will come in white limited to 1500 piece!!

 correction here: Only BS 9000 in white will be LTD to 1500!!