Microsoft VP Brian Hall quits to join startup focused on building smart headphones

Brian Hall, the corporate vice president of Microsoft devices, who was actively involved with devices like Surface Lumia, HoloLens, and other hardware businesses, is leaving the company to join four-year-old Doppler Labs, a startup focused on building smart earbuds.

In a blog post, Hall said, "Today, I’m thrilled to join Doppler Labs, a company with an amazing team and a bold vision to truly change the way we hear the world."

Hall will take the position of COO to oversee the operations of the building a high-end series of wireless Bluetooth headphones, named Here One.

The new COO also said that he joined Doppler Labs because of their unique mission. “As COO at Doppler, I want to help lead the charge to do the same thing for Here One. I joined Doppler because of the team’s mission to give everyone superhuman hearing, letting people hear exactly what they want to hear and remove what they don’t. But I was equally impressed when I experienced Here One,” Hall said.

With Here One, you can "shut out background noise in the office or crowds in public; you can hear the person you’re talking to at a loud restaurant with directional hearing, or you can reduce the rumble of a jet engine on a flight, but still hear the flight attendant or the passenger sitting next to you. And this only gets better as we deliver more and smarter suggestions to filter out sirens, recognise where you are and curate your environment for you automatically," Hall added.

Doppler Labs said that the company will start shipping 'Here One' from February 21 with a price tag of $299. As per the reports, the company has already received more than 10,000 pre-orders for the high-end headphones.