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It is possible that both "home in" and "hone in" are metaphorical extensions of their original respective literal meanings. To home in is to become focused and approach ones target, possibly extended from the actions of animals that have a homing instinct. To hone is to remove excess material, to pare away such material so that the object becomes sharp and well-honed. By extension the use of "hone in" as distinct from "home in" seems to suggest a paring away of superfluous or irrelevant concerns so as to focus on what is more important or significant in some respect.
It my be a newish development in language use, but that doesn't make it wrong - even if some people don't like it.
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