How has the Vibez been faring out in the wild since we last checked?

I love mine. Use it every day.

Is the wheel holding up?

Beautifully. Need more options for allowing/disallowing certain functions when the player is locked.

Is the software solid, or at least receiving updates?

Solid, yes, except for one major bug that causes the player to hang if you save a playlist when repeat is enabled. No updates have been announced publicly yet.

Did it really turn out to have the Karma/empeg functionality that we love?

For the most part, yes. (I own a recently deceased Karma. Never had the pleasure of meeting an empeg.) Sadly, it is missing the ability to manage playlists independent of the Now Playling list.

How's the price and availability?

Fairly priced. Only two stores carry it in the US: J&R and B&H, both in NYC, which works out fine for me.

All in all, I rank Karma a little higher than Vibez, and Vibez higher than everything else.