The CTZ guys are hearing that ATi is promising a hard launch with the upcoming R580 part. I'd think that ATi had definitely better follow through on this one if they want to seriously contend, because NVIDIA's response is right around the corner as well...

"ATI has received well deserved criticism with its current line of GPUs, and while ATI did its best to avoid paper launches, the company just couldn't keep up due to known and unknown circumstances, however, ATI promises to change that with its R580 launch."