Bang and Olufsen BeoSound 5

Companies that deal with music have finally tapped into one fundamental human truth: People are lazy. From services like Slacker and Pandora to Apple’s Genius playlists, music players are increasingly focusing on taking the work out of selecting and playing music.

Bang & Olufsen recently dragged the higher end of the market into the game with its new BeoSound 5 system, a “smart” player equipped with the company’s proprietary “More of the Same” technology. It scans your library of music and intelligently selects similar tracks to follow one another based on properties like rhythm, syncopation, key tonality, and vocal harmonies. Choose one song you’re in the mood for, and more will follow.

Images Courtesy of Bang & Olufsen

Of course, above and beyond circuitry and software, the main appeal of the BeoSound 5 will probably be B&O’s signature artistic look. Like the control panel for a video game teleporter, the BeoSound 5 has a thin 10.4-inch touch screen that sits atop a thin aluminum pedestal, tilted toward the operator. A few clicks on the circular-style menus, and your music is playing. Classy.

The whole system will be available in March 2009, but the company has not yet released pricing information. Expectations range from 4,000 to 5,000 Euros. More information be found at Bang & Olufsen’s Web site.