Basically the "Uniden etc" part of your post is Uniden.
Unless there is a new player to step up into the market Uniden is the ONLY serious scanner maker that targets North America. As they are the only game in town, the already waning scanner industry is now at their mercy as to new products.
I'm not downing Uniden, it's just the way it is.
Since there are no new FCC filings, I'd say that if you wait for something new to come out to spend the cash on, you are looking at 18 months minimum.
UPMan also stated that he would have some new info for us "in a couple of months". So I would think that the project time from any details to actual release (with the absence of any FCC filings right at the moment) would be a year and a half.
Draf