CES 2011
Las Vegas – New
partnerships, new headphones and new cables highlighted Monster Cable’s press
conference during International CES on Wednesday.
Showing figures
from The NPD Group that list Monster as No. 1 in dollar market share from Sept.
to Nov. of last year, head monster Noel Lee noted proudly that this achievement
did not mean it had stolen share from competitors.
“Our intention was
not to take a piece of the pie,” Lee said. “Our intention was to grow the pie.”
And adding to that
pie was a new version of the Miles Davis headphones
. The newest version, the Miles Davis Trumpet, is billed as “the
world’s smallest in-ear headphones,” able to achieve this status, Lee said, by
housing the drivers in the headphones’ tips rather than the bodies. Suggested
retail is $299, he said.
Monster also
announced it would be partnering with Crestron, although no details were given.
The company would only say that the agreement “will allow Monster’s HDMI
interconnect cables to become DM certified” and that “it will combine
Crestron’s digital media system and the media Speed Rated HDMI cables in a
variety of advanced applications.” More details will reportedly be given in a
few weeks.
A
motion-controlled iPod accessory was introduced that uses IR technology to let
users play and pause or skip tracks on the iPod, iPad or iPhone while driving.
The iMotion Car Play will ship in March for $119.
Lee also said the
company would be rolling out a new surround-sound technology for its headphones
known as HDHS: High Definition Headphones Surround 360.
And, finally, so as not to forget its roots, a
new 3D HDMI cable was introduced, and the pricing of its other Speed Rated
Cables was dropped accordingly. A SuperThin Micro for HDMI cable for
HDMI-capable smartphones, such as the Evo 4G and the Droid X, was also
unveiled.
