The market for premium Bluetooth speakers is starting to heat up as the holiday season approaches. In the same week that Bowers & Wilkins launched its first Bluetooth speaker (see 1410210039), Bang & Olufsen announced it was entering the arena with a 2.5-pound speaker that’s the size of a hardcover book (1.7 x 5.6 x 10.1 inches). The BeoPlay A2 ($399) is a flat two-channel speaker said to provide “omnidirectional” sound through Bang & Olufsen’s Power Response Enhancement technology that uses an extra tweeter on the main driver's rear side to send sound in all directions. Battery life is one of the differentiating features companies are using to sell their wireless speakers. B&O said Thursday that the A2 can run for up to 24 hours on a charge, and “none of the other speakers of this size and category come even close to matching that amount of playing time.” Also on Thursday, Bowers & Wilkins issued a correction to its Tuesday news release, saying battery life of its T7 Bluetooth speaker ($349) is 18 hours versus 10 hours, which the company said was a typo in the original release. The B&O A2 is available in green, gray and black and comes with a carrying strap, the company said.

Bowers & Wilkins introduced its first Bluetooth speaker Tuesday. The $349 T7 is B&W’s first non-AirPlay wireless speaker and the first to incorporate a commercial application of the company’s aptX Bluetooth-based Micro Matrix technology. Developed in B&W’s audio group, the Micro Matrix honeycomb structure is said to provide substantial cabinet stiffening and a solid platform for the portable unit’s drive units. B&W calls the T7, the size of a hardcover book, its “most portable” stand-alone speaker. Rechargeable battery life is given as 10 hours.

DTS’s Phorus division is doing its part to grow its Play-Fi multiroom audio ecosystem at the entry level with a new PS5 speaker ($229) announced Thursday (http://bit.ly/1qCM1uF). The wireless Phorus PS5 speaker will stream lossless audio from iOS, Android and Windows PCs to multiple rooms and from multiple users simultaneously over Wi-Fi, the company said. The Phorus App is available for Android, Kindle Fire and iOS devices and can stream music from DLNA servers, Internet radio stations and music services including Deezer, KKBox, Pandora, QQMusic, SiriusXM and Songza, the company said. The DTS Play-Fi HD Driver for Windows enables users to stream music from apps on a PC, including Google Music, Spotify and Xbox Live, to all Play-Fi speakers in a home, it said. The PS5 supports direct streaming via Bluetooth (including AptX and AAC codecs) for Bluetooth-enabled smartphones, and it accepts AirPlay streams from OSX, iTunes and iOS devices, although it is not AirPlay-certified, a company spokeswoman said. The speaker has an 802.11a/b/g/n radio that supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands to avoid interference with other Wi-Fi devices in the home, Phorus said. DTS post-processing technology is said to restore detail, enhance bass and ensure maximum volume from the music. The PS5 will be available in December from the Phorus website and Amazon, the company said. Phorus is marketing the PS5 through a relationship with recording artist Run River North, whose recently released music video “Monster’s Calling Home” features the speaker.

The Harman Kardon CL Premium headphones were Amazon’s Deal of the Day Wednesday, slashed from $249 to $59, a 76 percent discount. According to an Amazon product blurb, the CLs were made “specifically for use with iPhones and iPods,” offering remote control of audio playback and phone calls.

Sony beefed up its Hi-Res headphone lineup with the MDR-Z7 banded model ($699), the MDR-1ADAC with integrated digital-to-analog converter (DAC)/amplifier ($399) and XBA-Z5 in-ear set ($699). The company also bowed the PHA-3 portable headphone DAC/amplifier ($999), a portable headphone cable engineered by Kimber Kable ($229) and balanced headphone cables ($249). The headphones and DACs are due in stores this month, and the cables will ship in November, Sony said.