I've read several places,
I've read several places, including the recent Consumer Reports and last year's USA Today's reviews of the 2014 Mazda3 that a manual trans is coming soon for the 2.5 liter engine, presumably next model year. The USA Today piece noted that Mazda expects 12-15% of 2.O liter buyers to choose the manual and 15-20% of 2.5 liters to choose one when it's available. I'm hoping you don't have information that Mazda has changed its mind on the 2.5 manual because I'm looking forward to driving both manual versions in my coming car shopping.
The 2.5 manual may not be much consolation to enthusiasts for the loss of the 3 Speed. I saw a video online featuring a Mazda employee that pretty much indicated they wouldn't and perhaps couldn't do a 3Speed in this iteration of the 3. It held out hope for a 6Speed, though.
I'm a bit curious of the cause for the delay in the 2.5 manual. Perhaps they couldn't get the manual from the 6 to fit in the 3, or perhaps they're not satisfied with the 6's manual.