Just to play Devil's Advocate here.
What if the supposed "album + b-sides" discussion was about the 3rd Greatest Hits collection? We have a little more than a year until 2010, at which point GH2000-2010 will likely be due. Maybe they've realized that they're pretty short on a good collection of B-Sides and they need to strategize to give fans an incentive to purchase the set?
Who knows. I think in terms of the new album, the new single should definitely (by my tastes) be out this year, or VERY early next year (i.e. New Year's Day, Jan 2nd, 3rd, 4th, not much later). I would love a long album of 13 or 14 songs. I think that would be my ideal release, with something a little more down the road a bit (EP, second LP, whatever). But I have to admit, I would LOVE to see if U2 could pull of a double-album, because I think they could. It's just a matter of how much brass they all have in their slacks right now.
Maybe we'll get a full length soon, and then like, 4 EPs (no remixes or live tracks) throughout the tour. That would rule too. And then the Will.i.am 9-disc remix box set will be out around the final leg of the tour and we can all be satiated to the fullest!