The new product line will be focused on a younger, tech savvy generation, and will eventually offer products across the consumer electronics spectrum. B&O describes the brand as “playful,” “outgoing” and “vigorous.” The first device in the B&O Play line is the new Beolit 12, a portable sound system which was floating around the web via some leaked FCC pics last month.

I’ve had a chance to hear the Beolit 12 up close and personal, and it sounds awesome for its size, filling a room with smooth sound and punchy natural bass. The Beolit 12 portable sound looks sort of like a lunch box, with an aluminum case and grille, and a high quality leather carrying handle. It’s wireless, with full AirPlay support, and has its battery and power adapter built in. It’s a true 2.1 system with a 120 watt class D amp – a lot of power for a portable for sure. It’s got two 2″ tweeters, and a 4″ woofer for boom. Battery life is rated at 8 hours via line input, dropping to 4 hours over AirPlay.

So what about pricing? At $799(USD)/€699(EUR), it’s not cheap, but by Bang and Olufsen standards, it’s a bargain, especially when you realize the audio system was designed by the same team who makes $20,000 speakers.

The Beolit 12 is expected in the Bang & Olufsen online store and select Apple Stores sometime in late January/early February, and B&O Play will continue to roll out new gadgets on and ongoing basis.

The BeoVision 4-103 is powered by an oversize HD 1920×1080 resolution plasma panel. Apparently the guys over at Bang and Olufsen didn’t get the memo that plasma TV is pretty much at death’s door – trampled to the brink of death by the ever-improving  lightweight LCD juggernaut. Still, a 103-inch TV is a 103-inch TV, and that is something to write home about – even if you do have to take a 2nd mortgage on the house to pay for it. Oh, that’s right, nobody is giving out 2nd mortgages these days. I guess you just need to be truly filthy rich to buy one.

Now you’ll notice from these pictures from B&O that the ginormous television sits on the floor instead of hung on the wall or set on top of a cabinet. That’s probably because this bad boy weighs about as much as a baby elephant.  But the BeoVision has some nifty tricks up its six-figure sleeve.

The set rests on a motorized floor stand that automatically elevates the set to the optimal viewing height and angle, and drops the built-in center channel speaker into position directly beneath the screen. The set can even automatically recalibrate its picture every 120 hours of use.

So enough of my yakking. Check out this promo reel from B&O to check out just how drool-worthy this giant TV is.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Ready to plunk down your hard-earned bonus checks, AIG managment team members? You’ll have to hold on to your money just a little longer when the BeoVision 4-103 is released this July.

[via WIRED Gadget Lab]

So what exactly does plunking down six Franklins get you? For starters, this player is encased in a beautiful mirrored stainless steel and scratch-resistant glass body. The controls are accessed using a silicon rubber keypad, and track information is displayed on a bright full-color LCD screen.

B&O also includes a pair of their high-end A8 earphones, which look pretty slick and should sound great too.

So is beauty only skin deep? Certainly, the BeoSound’s uninspiring 4GB of (non-expandable) storage isn’t going to win any awards – nor will the display’s anemic 128×160 resolution. On the other hand, the player’s 40 hour battery life is well above average, so it’s got that going for it. That’s about where the story ends though. At $600, the fact that the BeoSound doesn’t even play video clips is absurd. Sure, it looks pretty, but your average $100 player can handle some video these days.

I guess if you’re incredibly brand-loyal to the Bang and Olufsen name, you might have to own one. But with Apple’s equally purty 16GB iPod Touch costing just $399, it’s hard to imagine why you’d pay $200 more for 1/4 of the storage and far fewer capabilities.

FLeX home theater PCs feature zippy Intel Core 2 Duo mobile processors and are packed in slick mini case that’s reminiscent of a black Mac Mini. The case design is a glossy “piano black” finish over aluminum, with a crystal front panel. The FLeX 4.2 (shown below) feature a unique case design that can be “folded” into different configurations.

The top of the line FLeX 4.2 features a 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo T7600 CPU, 750GB of SATA II storage, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, and dual 400W RMS Bang & Olufsen ICEPower audio amplifiers. Fully decked out, this system can run around $4500 USD, but if you don’t need the amplifiers and can get away with a little less speed and storage, you should be able to pick up a basic system (the FLeX 0 or 0L model) for around $2150 USD. Systems can be configured online to your specific needs.

All FLeX models feature a slot-load Dual Layer DVD burner and a wide variety of connections including 10/100/1000 Ethernet, Firewire, USB, DVI, VGA, Component, S-Video, Composite, 7.1 analog audio, and optical digital audio. Options are available for digital, analog and DVB-S satellite tuners.

[via Engadget]