Apple (AAPL) has held an end-of-summer event each year since 2005, traditionally focused on the iPod, music and other entertainment-related developments, and it looks like that will be the case again. That still leaves plenty of room for speculation about possibilities, such as a streaming music service, the coming iTV device or a spruced-up iPod touch. Based on Yoko Ono’s recent comments, the traditional Beatles-to-iTunes chatter is likely to be muted this year.

As always, we’ll be there to cover the event live, so be sure to join us on Sept. 1.

This non-update comes from Yoko Ono, who should know, since she’s one of the four people with control of the band’s catalog.

She says Apple Corps, the band’s holding company, would like to sell Beatles music through Apple’s (AAPL) iTunes one day. But that day won’t be soon. Reuters:

“[Apple CEO] Steve Jobs has his own idea and he’s a brilliant guy,” Ono, the 77-year-old widow of John Lennon, told Reuters. “There’s just an element that we’re not very happy about, as people. We are holding out.

“Don’t hold your breath…for anything,” she said with a laugh.

Ono, who was promoting an upcoming public television documentary about her husband, “LENNONYC,” declined to go into detail. Former member Paul McCartney was similarly vague in 2008 when he said there were “a couple of sticking points.”

What are those sticking points? Who knows–and who cares, really, at this point? For the record, let’s note that Apple Records is going to release music from other bands on iTunes this fall. And one day, I’m sure, they’ll get around to the Beatles stuff, too.

In the meantime, if you want to get the Beatles online, they’re a Google (GOOG) search away. As always, I’d suggest starting with YouTube:

Microsoft, who kicked off E3 Monday morning, set a high bar this year with a media briefing that was preceded by a mysterious email the day before. That email stated that the event would start five minutes early “due to a very special addition.”

Its special surprise guests turned out to be the Beatles’ Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as the spouses of the late John Lennon and George Harrison, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison. All showed up to promote the much anticipated “The Beatles Rockband” music simulation game by MTV Games, in which users can pretend to be members of famed music group.

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MTV and Harmonix Come Together for Unprecedented Deal

Exclusive Agreement Set to Bring The Beatles Music to Fans for the First Time in Interactive Form Here, There and Everywhere in 2009 …

The Beatles’ extraordinary music and phenomenal legacy is set to rock across the universe in the form of a video game …”

– Excerpts from Apple Corps/MTV Games/Harmonix press release

So those reports that the Beatles’ Apple Corps was in talks with Rock Band developers MTV Networks and Harmonix over the creation of a Beatles-themed videogame? True.

According to a Beatles pun-riddled joint press release from Apple Corps Ltd., MTV and Harmonix this morning (what, no “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey”?), the companies have inked an exclusive agreement to develop what they exuberantly describe as “an unprecedented, experiential progression through and celebration of the music and artistry of The Beatles.”

“The project is a fun idea which broadens the appeal of The Beatles and their music,” Beatle Paul McCartney said in a statement. I like people having the opportunity to get to know the music from the inside out.”

“It’s cool,” added Yoko Ono Lennon, perhaps dreaming of a “Rock Plastic Ono Band” edition of the game. “I love it and hope it will keep inspiring and encouraging the young generation for many decades.”

No word yet on how much of the Beatles catalog is involved here–or if it will feature a “Revolution 9″ minigame. But that’s beside the point, really. The fact that the band, which has long refused to distribute its music digitally, has licensed its catalog at all is a triumph for MTV Networks. This is a monumental adjustment in the Apple Corps approach to digital distribution and one that could herald future deals with Apple’s (AAPL) iTunes service (Beatles fan Steve Jobs must be beside himself today), Amazon and others.

“Send my love to the aliens,” Beatle Paul McCartney said in a statement released by the space agency. “All the best.” Yoko Ono, widow of the Beatle John Lennon, the principal author of “Across the Universe,” also hailed the transmission–in her own special way: “I see that this is the beginning of the new age in which we will communicate with billions of planets across the universe,” she said.