I think you can go either way with release product info. Sometimes it's good to put feelers out and see what people want, especially in a small company. That being said, if you're going to provide updates, it's good to do so on a fairly regular basis regardless if the information is good or bad. I personally like how the OSS community uses wiki's while alpha/beta testing new releases. It's good to know that problems are being ironed-out and gives some excitement and light at the end of the tunnel. Obviously you don't want your beta testers talking, but giving a periodic update on progress and what's to be finished is nice or don't do it at all.