Times Online has a video of an interview with Guillermo del Toro (transcript available at TORN).
Among other things, he mentions a few details about progress on the Hobbit:

1. They are working on the technologies and design for the films.
2. There will be familiar landscape, but gradually the look of the film will evolve to be a bit different. They'll show us something quite different in Film 2.
3. Filming will start in March 2010, and will take about 370 days. (less info)