Originally Posted by JMS 
After collecting information from various sources, I'd like to announce my suspicions publically. (snip)
Okay, here are my predictions once again. As I've said before, I don't think the next model will replace the K10D. Instead, the K10D will likely remain on the market until the middle of next year with perhaps minor tweaks and additions before then. If those tweaks or additions are made early in the new year (January), the K10D will be likely be renamed slightly to something like the K10Ds. Such a minor name change would allow the updated model to continue it's association with the award-winning K10D.
I think the next Pentax camera everyone is thinking about will be an entirely new 12-14 megapixel model aimed squarely at the Canon ESO 5D and Nikon D300/D2Xs. I suspect it will be named something like the K5D so internet search engines will bring it up with any search for the Canon 5D. I also think this new Pentax will be priced somewhere in the $1500-1800 price range to compete strongly in both price and performance with those $2000-2500 Canon and Nikon products.
Finally, since the market is so small, I don't think Pentax will release a top-end model similar to the Nikon D3 or Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III anytime within the next four or five years. However, if a new top-end Pentax model does arrive anytime soon, it will likely be a 15-18 megapixel medium format camera, with many DSLR-like features, priced nearly the same as the top Nikon and Canon DSLR's (thousands less than other medium format cameras). However, this particular prediction is a real stretch, so don't hold your breath waiting for it.
Well, those are my predictions for the coming months. We'll see shortly whether I'm any good at reading market trends and speculating from there.
stewart