Canon just announced two new "interesting" cameras: the G11 and S90. Both use a new 10MP sensor (down from the 14MP sensor in the G10, so theoretically better high-ISO performance). The S90 is also nicely pocketable and appears to have had some serious thought put into the UI, unlike the fiddly bits on the Panasonic LX3. If I was camera shopping for a compact, today, I'd probably still end up with the Panasonic, since it has a wider angle lens and has HD video (notably lacking in the Canon).

Also, with regard to camera speed, I had my LX3 in manual focus mode the other day (low light, indoors, and shooting a bunch of pictures from a fixed vantage point), and discovered that shot-to-shot performance was quite excellent, even in raw mode. Unsurprisingly, the autofocus system takes a significant amount of time, and if you're in a situation where you don't need it, you can win big. As such, maybe you just want to make sure you can find a compact camera with a manual focus option.