New K3 image - interesting!

do you mean built in astrotracer?

ah it says (optional) so prob still requires the plug-in unit

This is clearer and second bit quite interesting...
Translating from the original article,

"There are 27 AF focus points (25 are cross type), centre three are f/2.8 sensitive type."

Also, in regards to smartphone interoperability, an optional http://www.flu-card.com/ is required. There's an interesting comment on the original site where one poster speculated the possibility of using the phone's display as "variangle" monitor.

Read more at: http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-news-rumors/238873-pentax-k-3-specific...#ixzz2gxN8rwip

I don't get the impression that the car Flu-Card streams, which is surely what you'd need to use a smart phone as a monitor?

unless the smart phone app is for teathered smartphones... via usb 3...
or the wireless card streaming functions are routed throught hte phone apps..

So we reasonably confident this thing is going to blow everything out of the water crop sensor wise?

Camera wise, I think it will.

But we also need a killer fast lens to go with it.

The current 16-50 has too much baggage associated with it. A mark 2 will do nicely.

Pentax badly need an optically top notch fast focusing 70-200 f2.8 to go with the K-3 plus a wide zoom. The emphasis just has to be on very fast AF lenses to go with this new cam for people to look at Pentax seriously.

There's talk of a 18-70mm f2.8 DA on the US forum and various other places...

The Pentax version of the Tokina 12-28 shouldn't be too long.

Not yet. At least not for me. I'm not bothered about 24MP. The AF system looks on paper to be much better, but I'm waiting for the Dynamic Range/ISO improvements, if any, before anything is blown out of the water.

You will not see dramatic DR/ISO improvements until they drop their FF bomb, Smeggy. (If it ever happens!)

In terms of the crop sensor market, this machine looks like a Canikon beater though! Nikon image quality (at least) with Canon performance and video capability (or better). At least that's what I hope (for Pentax's sake).

Not that Canikon users will probably pay any attention

Possibly not but the K-5 managed it over the K-7/K-20D so I'm never saying never

Add me to that list Smeggy, though I could be more interested in the 24 Mp than you but it will not be a camera to replace my IIs, I want it for it's extra cropability, for Aircraft and critters but thats all.
It's probably a new Sensor if it's a Sony so, it may equal or outperform the Toshiba in the D7100, lets hope so anyway, I'd be suprised if it bettered the K5 though...

That was the switch from Samsung to Sony Exmor sensors. Unless there's another sensor manufacturer out there who's really done some magic, unlikely. I predict DR and ISO performance slightly ahead of the Nikon D7100, just as the K5 was a tiny (and I mean really tiny) bit ahead of the D7000. Which basically means they will stand still compared to the K5 I think.

Your prediction sounds rational