That note supposedly from the Verizon CEO should be taken with a grain of salt I think. It was a buzz a couple weeks but faded like just another urban legend. Unless somebody found some corraborating evidence, I would discount it. That certainly isn't Verizon's "company line" when asked about the release.
If you want to follow a thread entirely dedicated to the rumors of the O2's release, you might try Verizon's Samsung Omnia II forum. There are currently over 5,000 posts there with every rumor you can think of. The general consensus (FWIW) based on all known information is early November in stores and a week or two earlier than that online.
http://community.vzw.com/t5/PDA-Smar...42587/page/513
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