NEWS: B&O joins forces with NASA to reinvent the remote control

Remote controls aren't something we often get very excited about, but this futuristic device from Bang & Olufsen certainly grabbed our attention.

The Danish company, well known for its pioneering industrial design, describes the Beo5 as "an entirely new and revolutionary remote control".

Its touch-screen LCD screen can be programmed to operate any product or combination of products. In fact, the Beo5 is delivered without any programming from the factory, and is then professionally customised for each purchaser at their local B&O store.

As well as operating audio and video equipment, it can also remotely control home lighting, heating, air conditioning, windows and security systems.

The 'Touch-and-Go' technology used for the display, developed in conjunction with NASA, combines two different types of touch operation – sensi-touch, which detects the button, and soft-touch, which physically activates a function by pressing down on the screen.

The base of the Beo5 is a circular aluminium ball that includes hard-touch buttons for activating functions on the screen, as well as volume control and channel changing.

Beo5 will be available this autumn for around £300.

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Andy Clough

Andy is Global Brand Director of What Hi-Fi? and has been a technology journalist for 30 years. During that time he has covered everything from VHS and Betamax, MiniDisc and DCC to CDi, Laserdisc and 3D TV, and any number of other formats that have come and gone. He loves nothing better than a good old format war. Andy edited several hi-fi and home cinema magazines before relaunching whathifi.com in 2008 and helping turn it into the global success it is today. When not listening to music or watching TV, he spends far too much of his time reading about cars he can't afford to buy.