After being heavily rumored for five years, recent reports of the impending release of the iPhone have grown stronger the last few months, leading many to speculate that Apple CEO Steve Jobs will reveal the device – or at least a few pithy details – at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

These days, the music phone market isn’t showing us much more than a few barren shelves.  Sure, many companies have attempted to attract music lovers and cell phone junkies with devices that meet somewhere in between.  Examples include the Nokia 5300 Xpress, the Samsung Sync, and the very inappropriately named Motorola ROKR.  The fact that no one has effectively jumped on the potential lying here leaves the door wide open to industry giant Apple.

So, if the device is as inevitable as some seem to believe, then we have a few requests for the makers of the famous iPod.

Get that stupid battery out of the way:

Many music phones force the user into performing impromptu surgical procedures in order to access the memory card.  Removing the battery first is an annoying process the iPhone must negate.

Wireless connections, please:

Motorola’s music phones, the ROKR and RAZR, both require the user to connect to a PC with a USB cable.  In the age of Wi-Fi (see Zune), the iPhone could definitely use wireless music transfers.

Make it sexy AND useful:

We know the iPhone will probably look like a million bucks, but we’re begging Apple to keep it from being like the more-looks-than-brains RAZR.  That means easy to access menus and external controls for music functions.

In the past, connecting to iTunes via Motorola’s music phones has been an annoying process.  Since this is sure to be central to Apple’s upcoming communicator, we also request that the company improve cell-based linking with the extremely popular database.

If Apple can makes this work, then the result could have everyone talking (and listening).