It’s a bit surprising to me how quickly Canon is skipping over the 40D; I purchased a 30D at the end of its sales life (and was able to get the nicer 28-135mm lens shown below as part of the kit), right before the 40D came out, just about a year ago..
Canon today strengthens its EOS range with the addition of a powerful new digital SLR: the EOS 50D. A newly designed 15.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor delivers ultra-detailed, low-noise images – ideal for large-scale reproduction or creative cropping. Canon’s new DIGIC 4 processor is fast enough to allow up to 6.3fps continuous shooting, in bursts of up to 90 JPEGs with a UDMA card. Used with Canon’s wide area AF system, which locks onto subjects with 9 individual cross type sensors, stunning action sequences can be captured – even in low-light conditions. A new 3.0” Clear View VGA LCD provides extra-large and wide angle-of-view image review, with plenty of clarity for accurate focus checks in playback. By switching to Live View mode – which displays a real-time image on the LCD – photographers can enjoy simplified shooting from awkward angles, or connect to a PC for remote shooting.
(continued via fareastgizmos.com)
Williamo's Blog 
The Canon EOS 50D looks really like a great camera. Until now I found a lot of good reviews about it. Are there any alternatives for beginners which are a little cheaper?
Yes!
Just recently, the Canon Rebel T2i/EOS 550D came out that out-classes the EOS 50D at a cheaper price, and includes support for recording 1080p video! I just picked it up myself and I love it!
Here’s a link to the dpreview.con post about it; it’s pretty much an EOS 7D in a smaller body. =)
http://www.dpreview.com/previews/CanonEOS550D/