I always thought that the killer combo would be an in-dash docking statoin for your iPod or such.

Wow! That is a GREAT idea! I guess that's a bit the direction to where Dension is heading with their new Din-sized HU.
The shape of the iPod would also allow this pretty easily I think. I imagine the Pearl to be more of a problem in this area.

This would solve lots of problems at once : A Cd player would still be an option with this HU, as would an FM receiver be. Still not sure weather I would like the Fm receiver to be in the HU itself or in the removable MP3 player. On the one hand I would say in the HU itself because that would mean that the HU at least would be able to play some tunes when you've not brought the removable Mp3 device with you, OTOH I would also like an FM receiver in the portable device. (If I'd really have to choose I'd say put it in the HU itself)
Also, the mp3's could still be loaded onto the portable device with emplode-like software. (with the added speed of firewire, USB 2.0 and ethernet of course). I still believe there's no better software on the market yet that doesn this job better and more easily than Emplode does, and I would hate to loose this feature.

And to top it all off I would get a great full-featured portable player !! (of which the battery could charge when it's in the car!)
Oh man, this sounds better by the minute. I sure hope that SonicBlue is developping something along those lines !