By Prince Mclean

Published: 11:00 AM EST (08:00 AM PST)

Correspondents for Italian-based Mac web publication, MacityNet, claim to be one of the first outsiders to catch a glimpse of Apple's flash memory-based iPod digital music player.

Earlier this weekend, while camping outside the front entrance to San Francisco's Moscone Center -- the exhibition hall which is home to the Macworld Expo -- the publication's staff were privy to a sneak peek of Apple marketing materials for an upcoming iPod music player.

Through the Moscone's glass facade, workers could be seen hoisting massive banners advertising a new iPod and sporting the slogan "Life is Random." Before the banners were properly concealed, the reporters observed a 'narrower' white iPod 'without a large display' that, according to the advertisement, would hold 240 songs (approximately 1GB of space).

Although MacityNet claims it was forced to delete all digital photographs containing pictures of the new iPod, its website does display seemingly authentic photos of new Apple marketing materials being assembled inside the Moscone Center. The site also offers a description of the purported player.

"We cannot show the images of the new iPod because we were forced to delete them from our cameras, but we can describe it. It is without any screen (that's maybe because the slogan is "Life is random!"), small, with a shape more vertical than the other iPod. The color is white, and it seems like a small remote control that fits conformably in a single hand."

Sources close to AppleInsider have previously said that Apple's flash-based iPod would debut in 1GB configurations with a suggested retail price between $129 and $149 USD.