JBL OnBeat Xtreme. One Wild Looking Docking Station & Loudspeaker with a $500 Price Tag.

The JBL OnBeat Xtreme™ is among the most versatile, capable and powerful loudspeaker docks JBL engineering has ever produced. It’s a complete high performance audio system that docks with most Apple iOS devices – including iPad tablets – and pairs with virtually any Bluetooth®-enabled computer or smartphone for high-quality wireless playback of your music library, Internet radio streaming or speakerphone functionality.




An ingenious rotating connector firmly docks your iPad, iPod or iPhone device, and lets you position iPad, iPod and iPhone screens in portrait or landscape orientation for the best video display.




The JBL OnBeat Xtreme features JBL Ridge tweeters and JBL Atlas™ woofers with computer-optimized DSP equalization, which create a dynamic, lifelike 360-degree soundstage. An RF remote puts you in full control of system functions and music navigation from anywhere in even large rooms, and an AC power supply keeps your iOS devices charged when docked. With an optional composite cable, the JBL OnBeat Xtreme can even send video content on to your TV for the whole crowd to enjoy together. The JBL OnBeat Xtreme does it all, and does it with the industry-leading performance you expect of JBL products.





The JBL OnBeat Xtreme™ docking station frees you from wires – and its RF remote puts you in full control from anywhere nearby. The JBL OnBeat Xtreme dock is compatible with your computer and iPad, iPod and iPhone devices, guaranteeing spectacular wireless playback of your music library. And with an optional composite cable, it can send video to your TV for all your friends to enjoy.






Features
Docks with iPod, iPhone and iPad devices (Compatible iPhone/iPod models iPad Wi-Fi®+3G, iPad 2, iPad Wi-Fi, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS,iPhone 3G, iPhone, iPod touch 2G, iPod touch, iPod 5G,iPod nano 5G, iPod nano 4G, iPod nano 3G, iPod nano 2G, iPod nano, iPod classic)

The JBL OnBeat Xtreme™ high-performance docking station was designed to accommodate an iPod, iPhone or iPad. All three devices can wirelessly play back your music library with professional sound no matter which device you own.

High-quality Bluetooth® wireless music streaming

With the JBL OnBeat Xtreme™ loudspeaker dock, you can stream wirelessly through your Bluetooth® device, allowing your audio sources to deliver high-performance studio sound.

Dock your iPod, iPhone or iPad device in portrait or landscape orientation.



You use the iPod, iPhone and iPad landscape mode for the highest-quality video display. The high-performance JBL OnBeat Xtreme™ loudspeaker dock has an ingenious rotating connector that lets you position the screen in landscape orientation.

JBL® Ridge tweeters and Atlas™ woofers offer computer-optimized DSP equalization

JBL® Ridge tweeters and Atlas™ woofers with computer-optimized DSP equalization deliver impressive frequency response (47Hz to 22kHz) and minimal distortion, even at high output levels. You’ll hear your favorite music with an accuracy and detail you wouldn’t have thought possible from a system this small.

High power output

The JBL OnBeat Xtreme™ loudspeaker dock delivers 30 watts of amplification to each of its four transducers for crystal-clear high-output sound.

Hands-free calling with Bluetooth® phones

The JBL OnBeat Xtreme™ loudspeaker dock has a built-in microphone so you can make or receive calls on any Bluetooth® phone. Your music will pause for the call and resume when you hang up.

Composite output to display video content on TV (cable not included)

With an optional composite cable, the JBL OnBeat Xtreme™ loudspeaker dock can send video to your TV for all your friends to enjoy.

RF remote control navigates from up to 30 feet (9 meters) in any direction

Using the included JBL OnBeat Xtreme™ RF remote control, you can navigate your iPad, iPod and iPhone menus, iTunes songs, playlists, photos and videos. You can easily change tracks, system settings and more, from up to 30 feet (9 meters) in any direction.

AC power supply charges iOS devices when they’re docked

When plugged into AC power, the JBL OnBeat Xtreme™ loudspeaker dock will charge your iOS devices without a computer connection, even when the system itself is off.

Lightweight and compact enough to fit virtually anywhere

The JBL OnBeat Xtreme™ loudspeaker dock is compact enough to fit just about anywhere you and your friends get together. If music matters to you, you need to hear it the way it was meant to be heard, whenever and wherever you listen. The JBL OnBeat Xtreme dock will make it happen.

Dynamic JBL® Weave design

With its exclusive JBL® Weave design, the JBL OnBeat Xtreme™ loudspeaker dock looks as good as it sounds. The dynamic, one-of-a-kind design makes the JBL OnBeat Xtreme dock a stylish addition to your listening space.

What's in the box:

• (1) JBL OnBeat Xtreme speaker dock
• (1) AC power cord
• (1) remote control
• (1) iPod/iPhone adapter clip
• (1) iPad adapter clip
• (1) Owner's Manual

$499.95
buy it here

New Beolit 12, A Portable Wireless Speaker with AirPlay for your iPhone from Bang & Olufsen.

above: A still from the Beolit 12 commercial plays up the picnic basket-like shape.



The first product from Bang & Olufsen's new brand, B&O Play, has been chosen as the "Coolest New Speakers" by Gizmodo at the 2012 CES (Consumer Electronics Show).



With a full-grain leather strap, a solid aluminum grill, illuminated controls, 120 watts of output, a built-in power supply, and an 8 hour rechargeable battery, the Beolit 12 is a portable wireless speaker that features Apple’s AirPlay technology.






Designed by Cecilie Manz for B&O, it comes in four different colors and is said to arrive in Bang & Olufsen showrooms and select Apple stores later this month with a starting price of $800.



The television commercial promoting the new product plays off on its portable picnic basket like shape with an urban high fashion Little Red Riding Hood:



The press release:
Bang & Olufsen, the global provider of luxury, integrated audio-video solutions and services, and B&O PLAY, the company’s new brand focused on a more playful and portable product portfolio, are announcing its first product, the Beolit 12 portable music system. Beolit 12 will defy industry standards with its cutting-edge sound quality, flexible application and distinct, compact design.

Designed by Danish designer, Cecilie Manz, Beolit 12 follows a design language that is a direct reflection of its use: convenient, robust and casual. Beolit 12 follows the success of the BeoSound 8 sound system for iPad/iPod/iPhone docking, with a combination of excellent sound performance, distinct design and craftsmanship, and portable wireless operation.



“With its unsurpassed sound performance and striking design, we believe Beolit 12 will resonate with both Bang & Olufsen enthusiasts and now a new and wider customer demographic, due to its convenience, price point and fashion-forward style” states Tue Mantoni, CEO Bang & Olufsen. “We believe it bridges a gap in the market by delivering a high quality listening experience and still having the convenience of playing music from ones portable digital device or smart phone.”

Beolit 12 features Apple’s AirPlay technology. It allows you to play music wirelessly from your iPod, iPhone, iPad, Mac or PC when connected to your wireless network. It is designed to be portable and has a built-in power supply and a rechargeable battery. The power cord packs neatly away inside the system when not in use. The rechargeable battery has the capacity to charge an iPhone or other connected device and play back music for up to 8 hours at normal sound levels.

“By combining Bang & Olufsen’s 86 years of experience in sound and acoustic technology and advances with the latest wireless technology, Beolit 12 allows the user to play pristine music from their digital devices,” states Henrik Taudorf Lorensen, Vice President B&O PLAY. “We have packaged all of this technology in a compact solution and wrapped it in a beautiful hand-assembled aluminium casing which can be moved around freely with no cables by simply grabbing the leather-strap.”

Beolit 12 is a tribute to Bang & Olufsen’s ever-popular transistor Beolit radios from the 1960’s, and similar to its early predecessors, it presents a compact form, yet a robust sound reproduction. Also, despite its relatively small size, the Beolit 12 offers a best in class portable sound experience. Its 120 Watts digital Class D power amplifier system individually drives two 2” tweeters and a 4” woofer to deliver powerful, accurate sound performance that comfortably fills a middle sized room. The sound system is designed and tuned by the same sound engineers that delivered the award winning BeoLab 5 loudspeakers from Bang & Olufsen.

Attention to detail has always been a Bang & Olufsen signature competency, and this is reiterated under the B&O PLAY brand. Material choice and craftsmanship are no exceptions here: An Italian full-grain leather carrying strap is diagonally mounted for stability when the unit is carried, and the solid aluminium loudspeaker grille wraps smoothly around the unit, making the loudspeaker fabric visible behind the grille to allow for different discrete colour options. The top of the unit, with its volume, power and network controls has a non-slip rubber insert, so you can safely place your mobile device here while charging or playing.

The Beolit 12 represents the company’s move into a new range of products designed specifically for a new generation of mobile, digital, quality-conscious customers. With a recommended consumer price of EUR 699 in Europe and $799 in the USA, the Beolit 12 is the most affordable sound system from Bang & Olufsen in many years, and therefore the company believes its sales volume will surpass the ever-popular BeoSound 8 figures.

Beolit 12 will begin to arrive in Bang & Olufsen showrooms, Bang & Olufsen Online Store and Apple Stores (including Apple Online Store) late January 2012 in the dark grey option. Additional colors will include yellow, blue, and light grey, and those will arrive in showrooms this Spring 2012.




all images and info courtesy of Bang & Olufsen

Specs:
•Class D digital amplifier with a total of 120 watts.
• 2.1 stereo system with: 2 x 2” tweeter and 1 x 4” woofer
• Dimensions W x H x D: 23 x 15 x 18.8 (cm)
• Weight: 2.8 (kg)
• Colours: Yellow, dark grey, blue, grey

Learn more about it here

Want an iphone? Better Read This First

The long awaited Apple iphone hits the market today! Betcha want one, huh? Me too. But read this first-just so you know all you need to.

Written By David Pogue for The New York Times:

Often-Asked iPhone Questions
With its new iPhone, Apple pulled off two masterful feats: creating the machine and creating the buzz around it.

That machine, and that buzz, have inspired a lot of questions. Just how much of a phone, an iPod and an Internet machine is this thing?

Here are the answers to the most frequently asked iPhone questions. Consider them a companion to my review yesterday, which covered the big points like the touch-screen keyboard (adequate with practice), the AT&T Internet network (painfully slow) and the iPhone's overall character (fun, powerful, amazing).

Before you dive in, though, a note about the "Does it have...?" questions. Apple has indicated that it intends to add features through free software updates, so the real, secret answer to some of the "no" answers is actually, "Coming soon."


Phone


above: the iphone in stand

Does the touch screen work if you're wearing gloves?
Will a stylus or pen tip work? No. Skin contact is required to operate the buttons. Fortunately, most tappable elements on the screen are big and broad, designed for fingertip access.

Does the iPhone have a speakerphone? Vibrate mode? Airplane mode?
Yes, yes and yes. The speakerphone and the vibrations are both weak, though.

Can I dial without looking? Can I dial one-handed?
You can't do much on the iPhone without looking. Then again, few people can operate a cellphone without looking. Dialing the iPhone one-handed, though, is easy. As your fingers grasp the iPhone, your thumb is free to tap buttons, scroll lists and so on.

Can I use a SIM card from another phone?
The iPhone comes with an installed SIM card, the tiny circuit board that stores your account information and phone number. Apple says that you should be able to replace it with any recent AT&T card, once you activate it in iTunes. No other company's SIM card works in the iPhone.

Will the iPhone work overseas?
If you mean to use your AT&T account, yes; call AT&T to turn on international roaming, and then prepare to pay big roaming charges. If you mean to insert some other country's SIM card, no.

How about voice memos, voice dialing or call recording?
No.

Do I need an AT&T account?
Yes. The iPhone won't work at all without a two-year AT&T voice-plus-Internet plan (and no, you can't use it as just an iPod, no matter how tempting the bigger screen and longer battery life is).


Above: iphone with music and headphones

iPod
What iPod features does the iPhone have?
Password protection, Shuffle and Repeat modes, ratings, audiobooks, audiobook speed control, podcasts, SoundCheck, equalization, volume limiter, on-the-go playlists.

What iPod features does it lack?
Games, lyrics, video output to a TV and disk mode (when the iPod acts as a hard drive for transporting computer files).

Does the iPhone work with iPod accessories?
Some of them. The iPod radio receiver works, for example, but FM transmitters may not work. Existing speaker systems trigger the iPhone's airplane mode (wireless and phone features turned off) to avoid interference with the music. Starting soon, iPhone-compatible iPod products will bear a "works with iPhone" logo.

Can you use your iTunes songs as ring tones? Can you download new ones?
No. At the moment, the iPhone's 25 ring tones are your only choices. (They're really good.)

Can you use your own headphones?
Fortunately, the iPhone has a standard miniplug headphone jack; unfortunately, its plastic molding prevents most headphone plugs from seating properly. Inexpensive adapters are available from Belkin and others.

Wireless

Does the iPhone work with Bluetooth computers, printers, stereo headsets or keyboards?
No. At the moment, it communicates only with hands-free devices like Bluetooth headsets (including Apple's very tiny one, coming in July) and a car's dashboard system.

Does the iPhone alert you when it detects a wireless Internet hot spot?
Yes. In fact, if it's a hot spot you've used before, the iPhone hops onto it seamlessly and quietly.

Can the iPhone serve as a wireless modem for my laptop?
No.

Can the iPhone receive songs, files, calendar appointments, contacts or software updates wirelessly?
No, only from your computer through the U.S.B. charging cradle. But this is kind of neat: Unlike the iPod, there's no "do not disconnect" message during syncing. You can yank the iPhone out of the cradle whenever you like - to answer a call, for example; syncing resumes when you're done. You can also operate the iPhone while it is charging.

Internet



Can you make phone calls while you're on the Internet?
Yes - if your iPhone has a Wi-Fi connection. When it's using AT&T's Internet network, no.

Why didn't Apple use AT&T's faster 3G Internet network?
Apple says that today's relatively unpolished 3G (third generation) radio chips would drain the battery too fast - and at this point, wouldn't provide enough of a speed boost to justify that trade-off. Apple will release a 3G iPhone model when the time seems right.

How snappy is the real iPhone, compared with Apple's ads?
It's identical, with one exception: Apple never shows the iPhone when it's on AT&T's cellular network. That would just be embarrassing.

What kind of e-mail can it get?
The iPhone comes with presets for Gmail, AOL and Yahoo Mail. You can also set up standard POP3 and IMAP accounts.

Is there instant messaging, like AIM or MSN Messenger?
No. Text-message exchanges appear as sequential, colorful text balloons, just as in Apple's iChat program. But they're still cellphone text messages, not chat.

Does the iPhone synchronize bookmarks with your computer?
Yes: with Safari on the Mac, or Internet Explorer on Windows.

What does the Web browser have?
Multiple open pages (like tabs), fonts, layouts, pop-up menus, checkboxes, clickable links and dialable phone numbers (tap with your finger).

What does it lack?
Java, Flash, stored passwords, RSS, streaming audio or video (except for some QuickTime videos).

What about V.P.N. (virtual private networking)?
The iPhone works with several common V.P.N. systems (that is, secure connections to corporate networks). A Settings screen lets you fill in the configuration details.

Software

Does the iPhone synchronize with my computer's calendar and address book?
Yes. It can sync with Address Book or Microsoft Entourage on the Macintosh, Outlook, Outlook Express on Windows, or Yahoo's address book on the Web. If you add appointments or phone numbers to the iPhone, they are added to your computer the next time you sync.

Do To Do items show up on the iPhone? Do memos in the iPhone's Notes program show up on the computer?
No.

Does the keyboard rotate when you rotate the iPhone?
Only in the Web browser. That's a shame, because the rotated keyboard, stretching the full length of the screen, is much bigger and easier to use than the narrow version.


Above: The iphone's keyboard

Can you type with two thumbs?
I've seen Apple employees flail away with two thumbs as though on a BlackBerry, but it takes loads of practice. After two weeks, I'm still tapping with one index finger.

Without cursor keys, how do I edit something I've written?
If you hold your fingertip against the glass, a magnifying loupe appears around it. You can now slide you finger through what you've written, moving the insertion point as you go.

Can the iPhone replace a BlackBerry?
It's not really even in the same category. For example, only Yahoo Mail accounts offer "push" e-mail like a BlackBerry, in which new messages appear in real time. For other accounts, the iPhone checks either periodically (every 15, 30 or 60 minutes) or when you tap the Check button. Similarly, you can view e-mailed Word, Excel and PDF attachments on the iPhone, but you can't create or edit them. The iPhone doesn't work with corporate Exchange e-mail systems, either, unless the administrator turns on IMAP (the administrator presumably knows what that is).

Hardware


Above: the back of the iphone

Is there an ambient light sensor?
Yes. A light sensor lies camouflaged behind the black glass. Each time you wake the phone, it adjusts the brightness - to make it brighter in sunlight, for example. You can also adjust the brightness manually.

Does the camera have a flash? Zoom? Self-portrait mirror?
None of the above. The chrome Apple logo on the back is not a self-portrait mirror.

Are there any secret features?
When the screen is off, the glossy black glass becomes a handy makeup mirror.

Wanna see David Pogue's video of the iphone?
click here.

or type the address below into your browser.
http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=caed76f16c6132710db58210df3940afb8a3f7c8