Today Apple announced their iPod HiFi, an iPod-specific speaker system. It'll run off of two D cell batteries (good for shoulder-mounted hood-stompin) or an AC adapter, and charges your iPod (but not the oft-scorned runt of the litter, the iPod Shuffle—sorry) while it plays. The $349 HiFi packs three forward-firing speakers, one of which is a subwoofer. And it's white. So to summarize, it's another iPod speaker system, but designed by Apple for Apple. Which raises the question: Why is it so vanilla? —Joe Brown