I haven't given up on it. As far as stompbox digital effects go, it seems like the best solution by far for small-scale production (i.e. if you aren't the size of Line 6). I haven't been able to play with it in the past several months, as work has been really busy - and since work is designing digital audio effects, I don't have much mental energy to dedicate to DIY stuff in my spare time.
The FV-1 is certainly not an "all-in-one" chip. Amp modeling, for instance, would be difficult. However, the size and cost should allow it to be used alongside analog components that can do some of the heavy lifting. Bandlimited distortion, for example: difficult in digital (more expensive function needed for smooth transition to soft clipping, oversampling usually required), really easy in analog (op amp + 2 diodes).
The redesigned site looks good. I wonder what the DV-1 is...
Sean Costello