after much research and with my exp w my own bionic and vz, im thinkin that vz is pulling the strings and that if delay after delay will get customers to chuck their bionic and pick up a new phone, and a new contract, that makes good $en$e to vz and thats what they are doing. vz didnt get their position by being 'nice guys', so to speak...although i have no complaints about their cust service, they have always been great when i needed them...but clearly, if bionic users just continue to upgrade software and not purchase new phones, seems that vz will lose a little...but keep in mind that when u buy a phone on a contract, some of your monthly bill goes to the price of the phone...after 2 years, that amount is still bein paid by you, cuz you do not see a decrease in your bill. anyway, mho...my plan is to keep mine as long as it will run and to upgrade at every opp.