Those clever little Japanese have been at it again. Tired of inventing vending machines for vacuum cleaner bags and robot dogs that eat real food, they've gone back to the virtual grassroots and turned their attention to the area they're perhaps best known for: miniaturised entertainment devices.

And hence, the iLit Twin Spin Speaker system was conceived in a lab, probably somewhere near Yokohama, and probably by a man called Mr Hashimoto. And what a little man he is, for his speaker system is perhaps the dashed funkiest we have encountered in some time. And they'll make one's boring beige PC speakers or boring white iPod speakers resemble one of the inhabitants of the Ark.

Permit us to expand and expound. The iLit Twin Spin are highly colourful roundels that sit atop compact but quality 50mm diameter stereo speaker units capable of perfectly rendering a high fidelity music source (the upper-end sound is crystal clear while the bass is full and warm).

But the fun really starts when the lights go down. Embodying the latest in sleek styling and LED technology, the lights begin to glow and the colour subtly changes as the music plays and the beat shifts in volume and intensity.

To activate, simply plug in one's iPod or alternative music source including PC, CD or even good old-fashioned radio... or let the speaker system respond to the ambient sound all around you. Wickedly special. Congratulations, Mr Hashimoto.