I would imagine that the hub would be cast with a little bit of machining to finish it off. The prototype was machined from a billet, but we machined away probably 80$ worth of aluminum.
I think I would stick to 9 speed and 10 speed compatible, I would imagine that's what most people would want. I don't really understand using an 8 speed nowadays. The 9 speed 34 tooth cassette on the prototype doesn't interfere at all with the spoke rigging, you can rotate it out of the way so that the spokes come in between the teeth. It was fairly easy to lace all the spokes without bending them too much.