Originally Posted by XMACHINA 
If I'm wrong, I'll survive.
-XM
I don't think you are wrong. My guess is there will be a lot of surprised and dissatisfied people when the full direction is revealed. The days of Pentax being the "Best bang for your buck" are over. The new slogan will be something like "A different approach to photography and it's going to cost you". Pentax can't afford to follow the crowd and it seems they have realized this.
Don't hold your breath waiting for faster AF because I don't think it's coming. Low light metering is another matter. That may improve dramatically. Higher resolution, better DR, and cleaner images at low ISO settings will become the marketing buzz words.
That all may sound crazy and suicidal but reading between the lines of all the statements from Pentax officials points in that direction.
Ken