If you've been salivating in anticipation of the next generation iPod, circle Tuesday, Sept. 12 on your calendar.

That's the day Apple will be announcing something; exactly what remains a mystery.

Media pundits this week received a typically inscrutable invitation to the event in San Francisco. "It's Showtime," the message says, with Apple's iconic logo bathed in stylized spotlights.

The design leads to speculation about a long-anticipated addition to Apple's iTunes online music and video service—full-length movies for download.

And could the announcement(s) also include new iPod players with bigger, wider screens?

Lips are zipped at Apple headquarters, but that doesn't stop clever people from wondering, "what's next?"

At the iLounge Web site (devoted to all things iPod) there's a guessing game under way to depict the next-generation products from Cupertino.

Clever contestants have conjured up images of products that look fanciful, like an iPod mini widescreen player and another iPod that marries the mini's appealing form factor with a built-in camera and design cues from newer iPod products.

Participants in the New iPod Countdown Contest offer several renditions of an iPod based cell phone, which many observers feel is a logical next step for Apple.

One contestant even portrayed a minuscule 6th Generation Wireless iPod that slips inside your ear.

The deadline for entries in the iLounge contest is Saturday night. We'll have the real answers from Apple by this time next week.

IS CHEERS AVAILABLE?

Next February, the nation's biggest beer company is planning to launch a video Web site with original programs from Hollywood heavyweights like Vince Vaughn, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Kevin Spacey.

Bud.TV—which bills itself as a "new generation of entertainment"—will also let users (over 21-only, please) submit their own video clips.

Parent company Anheuser-Busch says it is targeting drinking-age consumers 27 and younger who already frequent sites like MySpace.

While this may sound like a zany idea on the face of it, is it really any different than the early days of TV? Programmers identified an audience—home-bound housewives—and developed daytime dramas with them in mind.

The audience has changed; the medium is different; but the concept remains the same today.

Instead of soap operas, perhaps next year we'll be talking about suds operas.

SURVEY SAYS...

Much has changed since WFAA.com started offering video to our users way back in 1998.

The images are bigger and clearer and there are a lot more clips available to watch.

It's just a small a part of the video explosion on the Web, driven by faster connections, more sophisticated computers and bigger screens.

In a new survey of 3,003 adults, the Associated Press and AOL found that more than half of them have watched or downloaded video from the Internet.

News is by far the most popular category, with 72 percent of online video users clicking on clips of current events.

Other frequently-viewed content includes:

• TV or movie clips (59 percent)
• Music videos (48 percent)
• Sports highlights (44 percent)

But the survey found just 22 percent have been attracted to full-length movies or TV shows online. Perhaps that's because a traditional television set remains a more convenient and comfortable venue for long-form programming.

And just as commercials are second-nature to old-fashioned TV viewers, 71-percent of those surveyed said are willing to sit through advertising to get free content.

Only 23-percent said they were willing to pay for an ad-free viewing experience.

In the end, it's likely that Internet video content will wind up in tiers, not unlike the time-tested formula for traditional television.

There will be an ever-expanding array of "free" clips and even programs, as long as you're willing to be targeted by advertisers. You'll be asked to pay for certain high-value content like sporting and music events.

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Watch Computer Corner every Wednesday on News 8 Midday at noon, or online any time.

E-mail askwalt@wfaa.com