We have not heard to much about the mini recently and only a couple of people have discussed its update chances, but I was thinking about this today and had an interesting thought. Last year, and again this year (sort of), we have heard about Apple making some sort of television. While I really do not think this is likely at all, it does lend itself when you think about the whole picture to the notion that the iTV, which looks quite similar to the Mini is really an aspect of a revamped mini intended to focus on the home entertainment/computing side. We have seen all the threads about combining a mini with a plasma/lcd and similarly seen all the threads about why people wish iTV could have more functionality, not to mention the recent postings about a version of osx running on iTV. Maybe the answer is a new mini, maybe not, but it's not completely out of the realm.
