Going by this AppleInsider report, it looks like Apple may be preparing to switch from hard drive based storage to solid-state flash based storage in its flagship iPod series as soon as the end of the year. While the price per Gigabyte is substantially more for flash than for hard drive storage, the advantage of flash would be improved battery life, durability and an overall smaller form factor. The report also mentions that Apple is considering cancelling the design of its next generation HDD based series in favour of a smaller form design to cater for flash storage.
By the end of the year, 32GB of flash storage would be considered cost-feasible, however this will unlikely be the case for 80GB or higher capacities. A Prudential Equity Group analyst mentions in a report that there is also debate on whether 32GB of flash would be sufficient for video, even though this is enough for 40 hours of content. On the other hand the main advantage over a 30GB model would be a potential 60% battery life improvement, increasing battery life from the current 3.5 hours to 5.5 hours using flash storage.
Finally, the analyst believes the next generation of video iPods will feature a wider touch screen, Wi-Fi capability for transferring content from Apple TV and GPS functionality to make it more suited for travelling.
From my experience of using a Creative Zen Vision, 30GB is more than enough to carry video content even on a multi-week holiday and I know some who are even happy with just a PDA to play movies and recorded broadcasts from 1GB to 2GB SD cards. On the other hand, some like to always carry a bulk of their video collection like how some iPod owners carry their full music library on the move. The main improvement I have yet to see Apple make is an upgrade to a removable battery. I generally always carry a 2nd battery with me when travelling and regularly make use of it, particularly on long journeys. Even for short duration trips involving one or two nights away from home, it is much handier to carry a 2nd battery than a bulky power supply.
