Newbie question about Sony SLT-A65

I currently own two canon point and shoot cameras. They are s80 and s550. They are old and I am not satisfied with the results.

I have 2 young kids so I mostly use my camera to take pictures indoors and outdoor. My kids are taking swimming and soccer lessons and I want to take their pictures.

My usage will be 90% stills and 10% video. I have a 1080p camcorder but I am hoping to sell it and use slt 65 for both pictures and videos. I know that cameras are not as convenient as camcorder for long shoots so I may keep the camcorder for event recording and just take the Sony camera for trips and use it for both video and stills.

Here are my questions:
Is the video quality good enough to ditch a dedicated 1080p camcorder?
Can you recommend a book I can read to learn more about taking pictures with Sony slt's.?
I don't have a need for a long zoom so what lens should I buy? Someone recommended Sony DT 16-50mm f/2.8 SSM Lens. Is this going to an overkill for me?
How often does Sony release new model?. Slt-65 was released last year.
I am willing to hold out for the next model if it is coming out soon.
I have never had a DSLR/APC camera before. How is the learning curve?

Has anyone compared Sony SLT-A65 with Panny GH2/GH3?

I work in technology so I do enjoy learning about gadgets. My hope is that I can learn how to use the camera, customize it and hope to quickly take pictures of my kids without having to bribe them to sit still because daddy is fiddling with the camera.

Thanks