Well, from things said in recent interviews you can interpolate the release date.
Things SE said:
1. It will be released after FFXIII (slated for Spring 2010)
2. It will have a longer beta than FFXI (longer than 3-4 months)
3. Beta plans aren't solidified yet.
Now let's look at the history of FFXI. It was first announced in January 2000 with the beta opening in December of 2001 (nearly 2 years later).
While they obviously can't wait 2 years between announcement and beta without releasing it late in 2011... it's fair to say the beta will probably not start until long after the announcement (days ago).
Additionally, they may not want to overlap the beta too much with the coming content for FFXI.
My guess is that the beta will probably start at the end of the holiday season (December 2009) or a tad later and they will probably want at least 6 months of beta testing.
Well, you don't have to be a genius to see (simply from the "after FFXIII" comment) that it's obviously going to be Q3 or Q4... my guess is the latter.
EDIT: BTW... if some of you haven't seen the latest news and are curious.
Q&A from E3:
E3 Press Conference Q&A - The Final Fantasy 14.com
IGN interview:
IGN: E3 2009: Final Fantasy XIV - What We Know
Additionally, there's apparently a recent Japanese interview that revealed some more information. We're waiting (on another forum) for the resident translator to do his magic to get the particulars that auto-translations fail at.
EDIT2: More news
Video "interview" from IGN (similar to but different from the above):
IGN Video: Final Fantasy XIV Online PlayStation 3 Interview - E3 2009: Interview
EDIT3: ... yeah
Allakhazam.com: Final Fantasy XI: FFXIV NEWS - Tanaka & Komoto Interview <--- This may or may not be the aforementioned Japanese interview.
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