In about twenty minutes. El Jobso is going to appear in front of a crowd of select journalists at a special Apple event that is known as “The beat goes on.”

The Apple rumor sphere has identified three music-related possibilities to explain the event’s title. Here they are in order from lame to kick-ass.

1. Lame - “The Beat Goes On” was a song released by Sonny and Cher in 1967.
2. Semi-Lame - “The Beat Goes On” is the name of an upcoming Madonna album.
3. Kick-Ass - “The Beat Goes On” also appeared as a phrase in The Beatles final press release, issued April 10, 1970.

What’s Coming

We are at the tail-end of the back-to-school shopping season and the front-end of the Holiday wish-list building season. This is when Apple introduces new iPod models.

There is a new iPod nano to debut. It is almost certainly going to sport flash memory and a click-wheel like today’s models. The new models will have a new form factor, larger 320×240 pixel displays and video playback ability.

They might revamp the iPod shuffle. Yay.

The real hype surrounds the flagship iPod. Most enthusiasts would agree that the new iPod will sport a widescreen display. It will utilize some of Apple’s Multitouch technology which debuted earlier this year with the iPhone. Typically, a revamped iPod comes in at two price points; $299 and $399.

Predictions

Flash memory is still too expensive to fill the iPods to 30, 60, 80 or 100 gigabyte capacities. The largest iPods will still use hard drives.

If the nano gains video playback capability, then the only thing differentiating it from a full size iPod is storage space. To make the iPod more attractive, Apple is going to build Wi-Fi into it. And yes, it will gain most of the Internet functions that the iPhone has - Google Maps, Email, etc.

After today, Apple’s pocket portable family will look like this:

Apple iPhone: (iPod + Internet device + phone) - $499 and $599
Apple iPod: (iPod + Internet device) - $299 and $399
nanos and shuffles: (iPod) - $249 and under

Let’s see how my predictions hold up.