While Tuesday's iBook updates will no doubt be a quiet affair (no media circus, just a press release-- if that), apparently Apple has something a little spicier on deck for next week. CNET reports that the company "has scheduled a special event" for next Tuesday at the California Theater in San Jose. Invitations went out to the press (the real press; we don't count) announcing that "Steve Jobs, Bono, and The Edge invite you to a special event" and providing, as usual, absolutely squat in terms of what said "special event" might actually be about. But since Bono and The Edge are currently starring as silhouettes in Apple's latest iPod + iTunes TV commercial and Apple has already announced that it'd be doing more with U2 than just sticking them in an ad and selling their music at the iTunes Music Store, you can bet that some music-related hijinks are in the offing.

So what's it going to be then, eh? Could this be the debut of the long-rumored 60 GB iPod with a color screen, a video-out port, and a built-in lithotripter to tackle those pesky kidney stones that make rocking out such a grind? Or will it be nothing more than an announcement of Apple's new pan-European iTMS, which the company said just last week is still on track for a launch this month? (Yes, we realize that a Euro-iTMS launch would make a lot more sense in, say, Europe, but remember, Steve's probably still a little hurty after his surgery, so we wouldn't be at all surprised if he wants to stay put for a while.)

Well, one media outlet claiming to have the goods on what next week's Bono-fied, Edge-tacular Apple event is all about is, of all sources, Forbes. It claims that in a week Apple will launch a special U2-edition iPod, done up in classy black and "preloaded with the band's new album, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, along with portions of the Irish supergroup's 25-year catalogue." If the report's correct, then Apple's getting a jump on the rush, because these U2Pods will supposedly ship when the band's album does: November 23rd. We imagine Apple wants to stretch out the pre-order frenzy a bit so it doesn't get too stomped-on by the imminent swarm of fevered holiday consumers.

If Forbes's sources are right, then we imagine that the Beatles' lawyers suddenly just got a whole lot busier; remember, Apple's allowed to slap its trademark on electronic and computer equipment that delivers music, but it's forbidden to use it "on or in connection with physical media delivering pre-recorded content." Okay, so it's not exactly a "compact disc of the Rolling Stones' music," as the Apple-Beatles agreement used as an example of the whole "physical media, pre-recorded content" thing. Still, as faithful viewer Matt Overton points out, an iPod sold with U2's music already preinstalled isn't too far off. (As far as the contract goes, we mean; we certainly aren't saying that U2 is anywhere near as cool as the Stones, as evidenced by the fact that we weren't just struck by lightning.)

Would Apple risk such a legally shaky maneuver? We can't say, but relax; whatever the company's got lined up, we'll know in a week. Until then, just keep watching the skies...