Yes, this is true, but the transfers are being enabled later today (evening Pacific).

Transfers will be enabled on Block 2016, and blocks are ~every 10 minutes - right now ~1960.

https://hnscan.com/?page=/blocks

If you are reading this on Feb 15th or afterwards, claims and auctions are working. Non-custodial options are Bob and using cli. Namebase is the only custodial option right now.