Without prompting of any kind it seems, other than a recent article by Peter Cohen at Maccentral, Matt Soell of Bungie Studios offered some clarification on the status of the Oni Beta. The article from last week cited a January launch date for Oni, as well as pegging the project's status at Beta 2. From his post at Oni Central late last week:

Maccentral is carrying a story with comments from Bungie's own Matt Soell, confirming that Oni will be delayed, but not as badly as has been speculated.

From the article:

Here's the evidence:

And 'lo, Bungie did speak, and it was Good. As pointed out by Cpt. Sqweky in the forum, Bungie's Matt Soell has posted a reassuring message in Oni Central's forum, commenting on the rumors of the last few days. A noteworthy tidbit:

Kudos to CyberBob, who pointed out this news item at IMG concerning the rumors of Oni being delayed even longer. Looks like the case is getting more solid... an excerpt of interest:

Matt stopped by Oni Central's forum to (among other things) answer the question of whether or not Konoko has a voice.

Kudos to Capn Crunch, who pointed out an item at MacAddict.com suggesting another setback for Oni. The relevant portion:

The fine folk at Gamespot UK have scored another two dozen Oni screens from the ECTS show, and have posted them for your viewing pleasure. While one or two will be familiar, this batch boasts a number of mouthwatering environment shots that speak volumes for the capabilities of Oni's engine... definitely worth checking out.