The good news is that the latest firmware upgrade has finally nailed the auto white balance, it's almost a completely different camera as a result. Big improvement.
The only thing that's really missing now is support for SDHC cards; after that, they can effectively say the M8 in its original form is done and turn their attention to the future.
I'm quite sure they are learning how to do digital and software in-house where previously it was sub-contracted out and if they can make the M8 full frame, that has to be good news.