Phorus, which plans to launch an Android-based wireless...

on published reports last week that Google plans to enter the home entertainment space with a branded multi-room audio product. Phorus launched PlayCast at CES last month and plans to sell the $199 system beginning in late March or early April, Lau told us by email Friday. Phorus is positioning the product as an alternative for Android users to Bluetooth or Apple’s Airplay solution. “PlayCast is a Wi-Fi solution, offering far greater range and sound quality than Bluetooth,” Lau said, and it offers multi-room capability compared with Bluetooth which can only transmit point to point, he said. Although Airplay is also Wi-Fi, it’s only available for Apple devices “and only supports multi-room streaming if a PC or laptop is the source,” Lau said. PlayCast, he said, was built “ground up for Android, and allows any phone, tablet or Android device to stream music directly to the speaker network.” PlayCast is being manufactured in China. Lau declined to comment on the type of magnets used for the speaker drivers when we asked if the company has been affected by high prices for neodymium. PlayCast speakers will have a retail price of $199 and will sell direct from the Phorus.com site and through Amazon, Lau said. He said Phorus’ marketing efforts through PR, events, trade shows and social media “will lay the ground work for our partners” and that the company plans to license PlayCast technology to “major manufacturers, retailers and device makers globally.”