RE:I dont see any hype in this news.I agree there's not a lot to be taken from it and I think part of it is to stay on peoples minds, but there is some value to it.
They're definitely not ready for legalization, but their timing is determined by technological development not arbitrary government set dates.
The one thing I'm taking away from this release is that if they've shortlisted 2 manufacturers, then it means manufacturing the device is almost definitely possible (something we didn't know before) and maybe more of a stretch, that it can be done at a presumably reasonable cost per unit (or they'd look to rework something and make it cheaper). It sounds like they've got the tech basically down so manufacturing is my main concern with them right now. It's one thing to develop the technology but if no one can mass-produce it for commercialization, then it's useless.
I can't remember who it was, but someone on this board said months ago that Kal responded to their email and said they wanted to have a manufacturer in place before November. This makes it seem like they'll be sticking with that timeline although they may be slightly off since it's not like them to put out multiple NRs in one month.