Images: Apple fans dream up next iPod

The problem with using a touch screen, of course, is that users would inevitably end up viewing their newly downloaded movies and videos through a dirty, mucked-up screen. Several contest submissions attempted to solve this problem by combining a horizontal view with a scroll wheel on the side. These designs show a bigger screen size than the current video iPod offers while keeping users' dirty paws from blurring video quality.

It also touches on what some analysts think would be a smart move for upcoming iPods--more wireless capability. The image shows a set Bluetooth headphones with remote control. Microsoft is planning to embed wireless capabilities into its Zune music player, which will be available this holiday season. Patent filings earlier this year showed that Apple was at least considering adding wireless chips to the iPod.

Greg Current submitted a full-size touch-screen design that incorporates Front Row-style menu navigation. And while we can't confirm that it's legitimate, Engadget has posted a photo, said to have been shot during the weekend, of a banner at San Francisco's Moscone Center, where Apple's event will take place Tuesday. The image shows a video iPod much like the one shown here. But many people in forums discussing the picture are crying Photoshop.

The garish yellow in this design isn't very Apple-esque, but moving controls to the side of the device would maximize screen size.

This design, which rated well with iLounge readers, takes a different tack, bringing the screen flush against the sides of the iPod and rounding out the two bottom corners. The concept increases screen size, updates the scroll wheel and adds three large, easy-access control buttons to the bottom, though the finished design looks more PDA than iPod.

If fan sites are any indication of public interest, a combination iPod-phone ought to be a hit. This design, one of dozens of "iPhones" submitted to iLounge, shows a flip phone with touch screen and music-playing capabilities. But analysts say the technology isn't quite there and that consumers shouldn't expect such a device this year.

This concept may not make the short list for most-likely-to-be-seen-on-Tuesday products, but we like it for its gusto. It combines an iPod with a phone and wireless-enabled PDA, incorporating a large touch screen and a partial slide cover to maximize functionality without taking us back to the days of the bulky PalmPilot 1000.

So far as we know, this concept wasn't submitted to iLounge. But no Apple event would be complete without the slick designs of Isamu Sanada, who has built a name for himself creating beautiful--and sometimes prophetic--designs of fantasy Apple products. Here is Sanada's take on the "iPhone."