UpdateThe updates of the chips can be found here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=438359.0...
The tapout date is pulled back to early Feburary due to further modifications for robustness and stability, but mass delivery date is still March.
So tapeout should be done by now. If any announcement to come, it would be regarding processing orders. He already gathered lots of pre-orders from the other thread, so he is just going to start taking payement for them... CCMFFFFFFF

edit: however, i wouldnt expect any announcement right now since he has a lot of business to do

Yes, BUT it was pulled back to mid-february (
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=99497.msg5025133#msg5025133). We should keep that in mind. Receiving samples that shortly after tapeout, mounting them, testing them, optimizing them is a lot for the time since the speculated tape out of mid february.