Bang & Olufsen, the leading provider of high-end, custom-made audio and video systems, has unveiled Beoplay A3, a state-of-art speaker dock for the iPad.
The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay A3 costs $730, more expensive than five of the six new iPad models, weighs 2.75 pounds - or 1.5kg - and is pyramid-shaped. The dock was designed by Danish designer Steffen Schmelling, and activates different speakers depending on the orientation of the iPad through a feature called Adaptive Stereo Orientation. The speaker is designed for the iPad and iPad 2 with no direct confirmation of iPad 3 compatibility, but the almost identical form factor compared to the iPad 2 suggests it will fit.
"Beoplay A3 is an ingeniously facetted wedge that allows you to fully enjoy all of the iPad's portable charms. It's more than light enough to sit or lie with, and its rounded edges are easy on both the eye and hand. Lay it on a table and you can tilt it into landscape mode to answer your mails; but it's also happy to tilt to portrait mode if you want to scroll through a playlist. Stand it on a table or desk and it transforms the iPad into an immersive theatre for one - or more if you want to view videos with friends or share a multi-media presentation with a colleague," Bang & Olufsen said in its press release.
The speaker features 3 x ½-inch tweeters, a 2-inch woofer and a frequency range of 60-15,000Hz. The A3 is made from the polycarbonate plastic and an aluminum frame. Battery life is claimed to be up to five hours between charges, but doesn't charge the iPad concurrently over wireless. That's done through the mains, which charges the case and the iPad.
"BeoPlay A3 takes your beloved iPad and adds amazingly well-defined stereo sound with great depth," the company adds on the A3's product page.
The Beoplay A3 has no confirmed release date for other regions, but potential buyers can sign up to be notified of a release date.
