Blizzard's released the first proper in-game Diablo III shots via its latest Blizzcast (that's a Podcast for WoW obsessives).
They show an inventory with all sorts of sapphires and axes, plus menus that don't look nicked from World of Warcraft at all. Ahem. That controversial art direction's still there as well.
There's no date yet but our finger's are firmly crossed and praying for 2009.