Robert, I rather like the idea of a stainless steel body and think I would prefer it to the rubberized coating. My only queries/concerns would be about the weight not increasing and if there would be any adverse effects caused by any contraction/expansion of the more thermally conductive material.
An opportunity gained with the stainless steel body is the possibility for owners to laser engrave/etch names (for id purposes or gift messages) or even pictures/images upon its surface if they so choose.
It would be preferable to me if there was no heavy design/pattern on the surface, as in some of the images you have provided (as I too feel this may be rather distracting and to me less visually appealing).
At the
Sandvik site they also mention that the material is scratch resistant, which would also be excellent.
Would there be any idea yet if there would be a higher cost involved with the stainless steel body? If so is there any idea yet what price difference this would make to the PEZ?