Speculation is running wild as to when Microsoft will be releasing Windows 7 Beta 1. It all started with Keith Combs' blog post about the upcomming Microsoft Developer Conference titled I know where you can get Windows 7 beta 1. On his blog he stated they are targeting to have Windows 7 Beta 1 DVD's ready by January 13th.
Neowin took the speculation to the next level and is making the connection that January 13th is around the same time the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show is going on. They believe the January 13th date is not a coincidence and that Microsoft will be using CES as a big stage to introduce Windows 7 Beta 1. This guess makes sense as Microsoft usually has a big keynote presense and has announced major releases in the past at CES.
Considering the logistics of having a lot of DVDs made, Microsoft would have to be finished with the Beta 1 code before the end of the year. Something that may be difficult given the fact that Microsoft promised Beta 1 would be feature complete at PDC in October. But who knows, they surprised everyone with how feature complete M3 was.