Smoker I suggest you look at the publications. I provide a few. :)
As far as hip implant being developed, the one from 2010 was ceramic on ceramic. It had squeaking issues, obviously, and some other issues as well. However the recent publications show progress on a Si3N4 on poly setup. We've seen the 5mc results but we havent seen the 12mc results. We've seen supporting publications about Si3N4 interaction with poly surfaces and Sonny's team has been publishing about the limitations of ZTA. Pezzotti even got a publication about AMCs and their pitfalls. So while everything does seem painfully slow there is evidence of progress. Btw isnt the Si3N4 coating fairly new? I mean they were just awarded a patent on it last year.
I happen to like the part about the coating being applied by magnetron sputtering a technique Zimmer is using to apply bioinert CrN/NbN coatings in its research.