someone started tyhe rumour about the christmas release, after that there has been lots of speculation.
Jan 09, ain't gonna happen, and the reason is that the team of coders are working on something really, really hard and can only fit it in around their jobs and social life which as far as I know is absolutley jam packed.
They're really trying to get everything done as fast as they can.
Expect a march release if we are lucky or something like that. I don't think it's going to be ready "any day soon".
You could always compile the newest release until an official release arrives, or offer to help the team by reporting bugs on the google.code page if you want to help out.