Countdown to the Nikon D3x announcement: It's Official!

Yes, the Countdown is back! The rumor mill has it that there's an official announcement in Japan in a few hours, so this is a good time to start a countdown! To keep track with time zones around the world, be sure to check this handy page at timeanddate.com.

11:11pm NYT time: IT'S OFFICIAL
The press release is up at Nikon USA and shown at Nikon Japan (in Japanese).

The coverage now picks up at the official announcement page.

1040pm NYC Time: Are these D3x samples or not?
Are these samples from the D3x? Discussion in the dpreview forums. The website with the alleged samples is currently hammered heavily, it probably won't load. If you want to give it a try, here it is http://www.aleksandar.dunkic.in.rs/images/d3x/index.htm. There are nine thumbnails at that page, but I haven't been able to load any of the individual pages.

1030pm NYC time, Sunday
While we are on idle time, how about starting a talent competition? Submit your singing and dancing mp3s and videos, and Paula Abdul and Simon will be around to grade them ;-)

10pm NYC time, Sunday
It's never too early to bash the D3x. Here is a thread that has boiling for 3 days. And if you are in a hurry, here is a summary of all the complaints.

9pm New York City time, Sunday
What practical impact will the sensor size have ask the photographers in the Photo.net Nikon forum.

The technicalities and strategies of the leaktroduction and announcement are discussed.

8pm New York City time, Sunday
What will the price be? Will it be over $8000? Discussion in the dpreview forums and NikonRumors.com.

No video on the D3x? What does that mean? What's the impact? A long discussion.

Tired of the D3X already? How about starting the wait for a Nikon D4?

A practical question to consider, how will the 10mp "DX mode" on the D3x look when compared to the 12mp DX DSLRs like the D300 and friends? Discussion.

The Story so far
The camera became "solid" when it found on a Nikon website, and the cement dried real fast when it was found in the Nikon Pro magazine.