I have always liked B&O remotes. One of the reasons is that you don’t hold a piece of ugly plastic in your hands, but wonderfully crafted metal.

But that hasn’t stopped designer Yuta Watanabe. He has made a remote from ceramic. Yes, that’s correct: ceramic. You can find a picture of it here:

http://www.yutawatanabe.com/ceramicremote2.html

I quite like it, but it just seems far too fragile. Aluminium would have been a better option. I wonder what you think.

I like the design but as you said I think it would be too fragile. I'd always be worried about dropping it or anyone get too close to it.

Do you know its price by any chance? 

I have no idea about the price. I just saw it on the net today.

This remote is currently not for sale, it's a design concept.

And concerning the fragility of ceramic : it is what the designer wanted : he thinks that people take more care of a fragile item, and then never loose it!

I like it!

Don't be fooled into thinking all ceramics are fragile - in fact they are amongst the strongest and most durable of all man made products.

Think of false teeth or the skirts that Lotus designed for their F1 Grand Prix cars in the 1980's (before they were banned)

 

Chris.

If you take ceramic from a spark plug it's strong enough to shatter glass from a car windshield by simply tapping it on the glass. Don't think of your mum's china in the kitchen. Most industrial ceramic is super hard. Like the Channel watches.

Design-wise, I like it a lot.  It's refreshing in many ways: shape, color, ergonomics, texture.  In fact like a lot of the things on his website. 

Functionality-wise... who knows? What is it designed to control? What protocol and frequency does it use? I think mbee is correct; it's a design concept.

I think it would look awesome in a black marbled colour; maybe with a thin aluminium band around the outside rim. Although I'd still rather a Beo5.

I think it looks fresh and unusual. However I see major flaw in this particular design.
Problem is with the shape - it may feel good in your hand but round bottom will make impossible to use remote while laying on the table. Buttons located near sides of the remote will be impossible to press unless remote is held in the hand.
Unless it will use craddle/charger that will hold it in place.

oops...
I did not realize same is applicable to Beo5

beoperson:

I think it looks fresh and unusual. However I see major flaw in this particular design.
Problem is with the shape - it may feel good in your hand but round bottom will make impossible to use remote while laying on the table. Buttons located near sides of the remote will be impossible to press unless remote is held in the hand.
Unless it will use craddle/charger that will hold it in place.

oops...
I did not realize same is applicable to Beo5

Why would you want to operate a remote control without holding it?  Perhaps you are accustomed to watching TV with a mug of your favorite drink in one hand and a sandwich in the other, and can only afford an outstretched pinky finger when you want to change your channel.

beoperson:

but round bottom will make impossible to use remote while laying on the table. Buttons located near sides of the remote will be impossible to press unless remote is held in the hand.

oops...
I did not realize same is applicable to Beo5

beo5 has not round bottom, so I can perfectly press any beo5 hard key when laying on the table, I use it daily in this very stable position (in fact better than beo4) while working with computer or at lunch.

Although it looks cool it also looks like a two handed operation, held in palm of one and keyed with finger of other hand. B&O remotes have been one hand operation, one finger operation remotes for a long time now. Far superior in operation and functionalty.

That is definition of good design, actually I did not have any doubts about usability of beo5
I did not have chance to see it since unfortunately it's not in us stores yet.

This is an awesome design!

Once again, I appear to be in the minority.  On first impression, I do not like the design.  It reminds me of a type of dessert that is sold by hawkers on the sidewalks here for around 30 pence.  They are both the same shape and about the same color.  Even the buttons on the remote reminds me of the red beans that are placed on top of the dessert for decoration.

I think this is one reason that I did not like the Beo 5 remote.  I saw a similar design for a clock at a Salvation Army shop where the spherical section represented a soccer/football club's insignia ball with a rectangular screen placed above it for the clock.  Oddly enough, this clock was on sale for the same price -- 30 pence.

For me, B&O is as much about life-style and aesthetics, and, quality.  Unfortunately, these two items do not "do it" for me as a result of these associations.

joynsyde:

beoperson:

I think it looks fresh and unusual. However I see major flaw in this particular design.
Problem is with the shape - it may feel good in your hand but round bottom will make impossible to use remote while laying on the table. Buttons located near sides of the remote will be impossible to press unless remote is held in the hand.
Unless it will use craddle/charger that will hold it in place.

oops...
I did not realize same is applicable to Beo5

Why would you want to operate a remote control without holding it?  Perhaps you are accustomed to watching TV with a mug of your favorite drink in one hand and a sandwich in the other, and can only afford an outstretched pinky finger when you want to change your channel.

Sorry, AJ, we have divergent views.  There are some things to be said for desktop remotes such as the BL7000 and MCP 6500.  They look nice sitting on a tabletop and they can be operated by an outstretched pinky finger.  :)   Once the baby arrives, perhaps there will be an opportunity for you to change your mind.  : )  : )