Recent rumours expect Apple to release an entry level iPod based on Flash memory late this year. Sources not only confirm a possible release of an iPod based on Flash-memory, some of them also claim Apple will also have a hard drive based iPod mini priced $199 in its line of MP3 players.

The flash based iPod rumour seems to be more and more confirmed, though details on these new iPod and their storage capacity remain very unclear. Unconfirmed reports suggest that Apple will release a flash-based iPod with 1Gb capacity that could be priced from $149 to $200.

As for the current iPod mini, some sources expect Apple to reduce it's price to $199. Storage capacity of the down-priced iPod mini has not been revealed, but some data, that we cannot publish, suggests that the current 4Gb iPod mini will be priced $199 and that a higher capacity 6Gb iPod mini will be priced as the current one, $249.

The capacity information is not really confirmed as it is based on extrapolated internal data but reliable sources told macosXrumors that Hitachi will remain Apple's supplier for the iPod mini's hard-drives.

The flash-based iPod is expected to be announced during MacWorld SF but we could not determine if the cheaper iPod mini, that is expected by some of our sources, will be released at the same time or not. That will probably depend on the pricing of the flash based iPod.

Eventually, one source was teased by Apple staff who told him that Apple's flash-drive based iPod would simply be "the best flash-drive based digital music player ever made".