Monster may have gotten its start manufacturing cables, but in the past couple of years, the company has expanded its offerings, most notably with its earphone and headphone lines. Today, at a press conference at CES, Noel Lee, the “Head Monster", announced even more headphones that will come with the now-familiar Monster trademark: celebrity endorsements. Dr. Dre and Lady GaGa are two celebrities with their own line of Monster earphones, and now partnerships with Vivienne Tam, the fashion designer, and even a posthumous Miles Davis collaboration are in the works. Still, Lee is committed to cablesmost notably of the HDMI variety these daysand home theater innovations, so Monster had plenty in the way of universal remote controls and ultra-thin wiring options to show off.
Manufactured with the intent of optimizing the frequency response for Miles Davis' music catalog, the Miles Davis tribute earphones will bear the trumpet legend's name and signaturecourtesy of Miles Davis Properties, LLC. The earphones, which feature a gold/brass finish based upon Davis' trumpet, a “kind of blue" cable, and a protective case that resembles an instrument case, will retail for $499.95Monster's most expensive earphones to date. Each pair will be individually numbered as part of a limited edition, but there's no word yet on how many will be made or when they'll be available. The earphones come with a one-time free replacement from Monstereven if the user breaks them.
Monster also announced a new line of in-ear earphones called “Jamz." Featuring “100-percent solid metal construction," Monster describes the earphones as virtually indestructablemaking it, perhaps, the ideal choice for those out there who are continually breaking their earphones. Other than being made to withstand poor treatment, it is unclear what, exactly sets the Jamz apart from previous Monster in-ear options. A version of the Jamz called “Mobile Jamz" will feature ControlTalkApple-approved buttons and a mic for answering calls on the iPhoneand comes with a 2GB microSD card and USB adapter for moving music from one source to another, as well as a Y-Cable “Chat Adapter" to enable use of the earphones for video chats on Skype. There will also be a more affordable, lighter-weight entry-level version of Jamz, dubbed Lil' Jamz. The Lil' Jamz will sell for $99.95, or $199.95 with ControlTalk; the Mobile Jamz will be priced at $149.95, and the Jamz, without ControlTalk, will sell for $119.95. No immediate timetable was set for availability.
Fashion designer Vivienne Tam is working with Monster to release her own pair of limited edition Monster earphones, but details are sketchy. The company plans to unveil more information about the earphones in mid-February at Fashion Week in New York.
In the realm of Home Theater-related products, Monster announced its “flagship" home theater controller. A universal remote, the MCC AVL200 offers “one touch control," sending commands to several different components with the push one button. Its unique design includes a display and a left-hand thumbstick and can be operated with two hands for more advanced controlling. The $249.99 table-top remote also controls lighting. Two other remotes, the MCC AV50 ($99.95) and the MCC AV55 ($129.95) are also being offered as more affordable universal remote options. The interface for all of the remotes is intended to let users jump quickly from any componentsay a Blu-ray playerto any other source, like cable TV, with the press of a button, and users can assign colors to different sources for backlighting the remote's screen.
Manufactured with the intent of optimizing the frequency response for Miles Davis' music catalog, the Miles Davis tribute earphones will bear the trumpet legend's name and signaturecourtesy of Miles Davis Properties, LLC. The earphones, which feature a gold/brass finish based upon Davis' trumpet, a “kind of blue" cable, and a protective case that resembles an instrument case, will retail for $499.95Monster's most expensive earphones to date. Each pair will be individually numbered as part of a limited edition, but there's no word yet on how many will be made or when they'll be available. The earphones come with a one-time free replacement from Monstereven if the user breaks them.
Monster also announced a new line of in-ear earphones called “Jamz." Featuring “100-percent solid metal construction," Monster describes the earphones as virtually indestructablemaking it, perhaps, the ideal choice for those out there who are continually breaking their earphones. Other than being made to withstand poor treatment, it is unclear what, exactly sets the Jamz apart from previous Monster in-ear options. A version of the Jamz called “Mobile Jamz" will feature ControlTalkApple-approved buttons and a mic for answering calls on the iPhoneand comes with a 2GB microSD card and USB adapter for moving music from one source to another, as well as a Y-Cable “Chat Adapter" to enable use of the earphones for video chats on Skype. There will also be a more affordable, lighter-weight entry-level version of Jamz, dubbed Lil' Jamz. The Lil' Jamz will sell for $99.95, or $199.95 with ControlTalk; the Mobile Jamz will be priced at $149.95, and the Jamz, without ControlTalk, will sell for $119.95. No immediate timetable was set for availability.
Fashion designer Vivienne Tam is working with Monster to release her own pair of limited edition Monster earphones, but details are sketchy. The company plans to unveil more information about the earphones in mid-February at Fashion Week in New York.
In the realm of Home Theater-related products, Monster announced its “flagship" home theater controller. A universal remote, the MCC AVL200 offers “one touch control," sending commands to several different components with the push one button. Its unique design includes a display and a left-hand thumbstick and can be operated with two hands for more advanced controlling. The $249.99 table-top remote also controls lighting. Two other remotes, the MCC AV50 ($99.95) and the MCC AV55 ($129.95) are also being offered as more affordable universal remote options. The interface for all of the remotes is intended to let users jump quickly from any componentsay a Blu-ray playerto any other source, like cable TV, with the press of a button, and users can assign colors to different sources for backlighting the remote's screen.
