Contrary to my initial guess, the latest intel suggests that the Nikon D4 will start shipping at the end of January 2012! Of course availability will be limited for months if not years. I am still trying to confirm/verify this info but if that’s the case, I can see that Nikon wants to get their top of the line DSLR available before the Canon 1Dx which will start shipping in March of 2012.
The D4 body wil be similar to the D3s without any major design changes.