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The demand for mass-market audio products is moving deeper into wireless territory and the smart money is moving with it. Bose, perhaps the epitome of smart money, is moving in that direction too. The key point of yesterday's press event was not so much the introduction of a new product—though there was one—but the development and extension of the Bose wireless strategy.

The new product is the SoundTouch 10, available in black or white, a wireless speaker about the size and shape of a thick hardcover book standing on its tippytoes. Reporters got a look at the 2.5-inch full-range Unidome driver that animates the SoundTouch. It was said to have the highest excursion of any driver Bose has ever made—or believes its competitors to have made. Perhaps that will spark a lively debate.

But the key feature of the SoundTouch 10 is its twin Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 802.11n wireless connectivity. Bose also chose this moment to add Wi-Fi to the new third-generation versions of the larger SoundTouch 20 and 30 as well as to its soundbars and home theater in a box systems. The advantage of adding Wi-Fi, the company says, is that it can reach more areas of the house, not being dependent on the device-to-device connection of Bluetooth. In fact, if one SoundTouch device receives a Bluetooth signal, it can use the Wi-Fi network to rebroadcast it around the house.

That makes the SoundTouches multi-room and multi-source products, capable of playing different music in different rooms or the same music in all rooms. In the presentation, SoundTouch 10s surrounded the audience, and activating the app's party mode activated all of them at once. A quick swipe on the app moves your music from zone to zone as you move around the house. Change program presets in the app and the changes roll out to all Bose devices on the network.

The SoundTouch app, for Android or iOS tablets or phones, includes six presets for playlist, artist, or internet radio services, with the latter including Pandora, iHeart Radio, Deezer, and most notably Spotify. Bose has been working closely with Spotify to improve the integration of its products with the audio streaming service. The SoundTouch app accesses Spotify music by song, album, artist, or playlist; the Spotify app controls SoundTouch systems directly.

The two apps share information. For instance, if you start a search in the Bose app, but want to dig deeper into the Spotify app's more sophisticated search function, just switch the device from SoundTouch to Spotify Connect, and the Spotify app will take over where the Bose app left off. Any SoundTouch system can be preloaded with Spotify playlists using the ReadySet with Spotify app from bose.com.

This functionality will apply to both new SoundTouch products and older ones via software update. However, the whole bag of tricks won't be available until next year. When you're as big as Bose, you need to be certain of keeping your promises to consumers.

A few miscellaneous details: The SoundTouch systems can stream from Windows or Mac as well as certain NAS drives (Synology DiskStation, Western Digital MyCloud) via iTunes or Windows Media Player. Up to four SoundTouches may operate on a home network but beyond that the company recommends using Ethernet. While they support Bluetooth, they don't support NFC. AirPlay is supported in the SoundTouch 20 and 30 but not the new SoundTouch10. None of the SoundTouches is battery powered.

Selected pricing: SoundTouch 10 ($200), SoundTouch 20 Series III ($350), SoundTouch 30 Series III ($500), SoundTouch 520 5.1-channel system ($1,500), SoundTouch 120 soundbar ($1,100), SoundTouch 130 soundbar ($1,500). Also announced was the SoundTouch SA-5 amp for outdoor speakers (pricing n/a).