I see this being $2899 at introduction in around 2014. This was planned all along. They release the non IS 24-70 first and tempt all the early adopters in to dropping $2300 bucks. Then, 2 years later, they make a new latest and greatest 24-70 IS, and get all those early adopters to fork over top dollar for another version.
They could have made this lens last year, but then they wouldn't have sold so many non IS versions to people who will eventually upgrade to the IS(like so many on here.)
There are only a few zoom lenses that can create this much anticipation and excitement, and Canon plans on maximizing that excitement in to as much sales as possible.