There has been a lot of speculation over Apple Inc's (NASDAQ: AAPL) special event today, The beat goes on. Everybody wants to know what Apple will reveal, and anything from a new iPod to newly signed artists coming to the iTunes Music Store have been rumored. There is definitely a buzz of interest ahead of today's event.

The beat goes on will be held this afternoon starting at 1:00 p.m. EDT, and knowing Apple, it should live up to the surrounding hype. Most of the media speculation has been forming around Apple's highly successful iPod. Analysts everywhere are expecting to see Steve jobs come out and introduce the world to the new iPod or iPods. According to MacDailyNews, chances are that a new iPod is exactly what we will see today.

MacDailyNews is suggesting that we could see a new lineup of iPods inspired by the new features that were in the recently released iPhone. A couple of new features that the site is suggesting we may see in the new iPods (should we see new iPods of course) would be a flash memory drive, and a possible WiFi receiver, and touch screen interface.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares are up over 2.6% in premarket action and will likely start the session strongly, recovering from yesterday's 4.11% drop. Midday update: Indeed, Apple shares are up $5.79 or 4.57% to $132.61. The company officially announced yesterday it will be holding a "special event" on September 5, "The Beat Goes On. "

Since Apple usually introduces new products ahead of the holiday season, the Street and consumers expect just that, introduction of several new products. According to Theflyonthewall.com, Goldman Sachs said it expects a new family of iPods to be announced during the event, a week ahead of expectations. The new iPods will likely include greater functionality at current price points and Goldman believes this will create another opportunity for upside in the second half of 2008. Recommends to buy.

Bloomberg also reports that the release of new models of the company's iPod media player is expected during the event. Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster said, "I would say 99 percent it's a new iPod." Sales of the iPod and music sold through Apple's iTunes store accounted for 40% of revenue last quarter.

Apple 2.0 actually speculates that "this will be the day that Steve Jobs announces that The Beatles -- the best-selling musical act of all time, at least in the U.S. -- have finally come to the iTunes Music Store." Only yesterday BloggingStocks' Richard Driver posted that Ringo Starr's post-Beatles EMI (LSE: EMI) catalog went up for sale digitally yesterday on digital retailers such as 7digital.com and Apple's iTunes Store.

What do you think Apple will announce on September 5? Whatever it is, almost everyone agrees it will spark new life in this already phenomenal stock.