> I bet we don't get a solid answer about this for a year or more.

First solid information on POWER7 preceded its official release by 1.5 years. Going by that, 1 year from now plus 1.5 more years would mean early 2014 for POWER8 release. But as we know that POWER8 is scheduled for 2013 (and rather early than late that year), solid information may be imminent ;-)