BlueAnt Enters Stereo Headset Market At CES

Lisa Johnston On Jan 6 2011 - 6:01am

LAS VEGAS — BlueAnt is entering the wired market with the introduction of its first stereo headset.

TWICE was given a sneak peek at the device, which was unnamed as of press time, back in November in a meeting with Tim Towster, marketing director. The leather headset, which folds flat, has 40mm drivers, memory foam ear pads and comes with three cords: a 3.5mm, one that can be used with all non-Apple phones, and one with an in-line mic for Apple devices. Pricing will range from $149 to $199 with availability set for March.

BlueAnt will also be launching a new speakerphone at the show, also unnamed at press time. The device will announce the caller’s name when the phone rings and answer calls with the user’s voice. Features will include one-touch access to voice dialing, the ability to connect two phones at the same time, automatic reconnection via built in vibration sensor, and up to 20 hours of talktime.

Thought of as the existing S4’s “little brother,” the new speakerphone will have a $79.99 price point.

Towster also told TWICE that BlueAnt would be expanding its partnership with VLingo for a joint text-to-speech app that will let users surf the web and navigate using their voices. For example, a driver could say, “What’s the closest pizza place? I want to navigate there,” and receive directions without touching the phone. It will be included free with future products and will work with all existing products, Towster said.

BlueAnt can be found at booth 31253 in the South Hall.