In reply to:
Case in point: the Yepp YP-900.
(snip comment about the iPod being overpriced)
I fail to see how this device is an "iPod-beater". It's 10GB, will sell for $399, and won't be available until February or March. The 10GB iPod sells for $399, is available now, and also includes a wired remote and a leather case in its price tag. Plus, it can store your addresses/phone numbers and appointment calendar.
Unless the use of USB2 rather than FireWire, or the ability to play WMA, is the deciding factor (which is certainly possible), it seems to me that it's essentially packing the same features (give or take - it doesn't have calendar or address book, but does have WMA audio) as the iPod into a much gaudier package, for the same price, 8 months or so late. I imagine Apple will have revised the iPod lineup again by February or March, anyway; they seem to have been doing it about every 4-6 months.
I think we can safely assume that if a real iPod-beater is going to come out in the mid-term, as Rob says, it's a product that nobody on this board outside of the Empeg guys (and possibly anybody testing it) knows about.