NEWS: Sony's new all-in-one system has speakers that fit in the palm of your hand

We've seen home cinema systems with small speakers, but Sony has come up with what are probably the tiniest yet – five of them are used with the company's Bravia Theatre DAV-IS10 system, due in the shops in September at around £700.

The new system combines the golf-ball-sized speakers with a glossy black media centre with hidden controls: they're under a glass top-plate and light up to the touch. The 21cm-wide unit will play DVDs and CDs, has a built-in FM/AM tuner, and features upscaling to 1080i to give enhanced picture quality with HD-ready TVs.

Also crammed in are the Digital Cinema Auto-Calibration system, as found on the company's ES-range receivers, and Bravia Theatre Sync, which works through the HDMI connection with the company's latest Bravia TVs to give 'one-button' operation.

As if all that wasn't enough, the system also has Sony's Digital Media Port, able to accept modular connectors to allow it to interface with iPods, Bluetooth music phones, wi-fi networks and Sony's Network Walkman players. The company's Portable Music Enhancer system is use to improve the sound with compressed music formats.

Each of the speakers has a 3.5cm drive unit, and they're each powered by 50W of S-Master digital amplification, and there's a dual-drive subwoofer with 12cm and 16cm drivers, powered by a 2x120W digital amp.

The Sony Bravia Theatre DAV-IS10 is expected to sell for around £600.

Technorati Tags: DVD, 5.1-channel, Bravia, HDMI, home cinema in a box, iPod, Sony, surround, TV, upscaling, Walkman, wi-fi

Andrew has written about audio and video products for the past 20+ years, and been a consumer journalist for more than 30 years, starting his career on camera magazines. Andrew has contributed to titles including What Hi-Fi?, GramophoneJazzwise and Hi-Fi CriticHi-Fi News & Record Review and Hi-Fi Choice. I’ve also written for a number of non-specialist and overseas magazines.