What’s in a name? Or, more importantly, what’s in a digit? Would that which we call an iPad by any number less than 2 be less sweet? That’s the question Apple posed for us indirectly when it unveiled the new iPad and relegated its future slates (and, presumably, phones) to a numeral-free future. And that new slate? It’s much the same as the old one, with a slightly more chipper processor at its (quad) core and support for both Verizon and AT&T’s fancy new LTE networks.
But there’s one bigger change here, one that will ripple across the industry as each manufacturer struggles to keep up in this ever-accelerating market. That feature is the iPad’s new 2048 x 1536 Retina display. It’s the best display ever featured on a tablet, probably the best display ever on a mobile device, but is that enough to keep this tablet ahead of the pack? Believe it or not, the answer is yes.

With the onslaught of CES launches still several days away, the big news today is the D4, Nikon’s brand new full-frame digital SLR camera. The 16.2 megapixel DSLR offers 1080/30p video capture, an extended ISO range of 100 to 204,800, a 91,000-pixel 3D color matrix meter and a top high-speed shooting option of 11 frames-per-second. And with the D3 first hitting stores nearly five years ago, this FX-mount successor was long overdue. Earlier today, Nikon held its D4 launch event in Asia, previewing the camera before a group of journalists in Hong Kong. We were on hand for a first look at the massive $6,000 pro body, and were quite pleased with what we saw. Jump past the break for our impressions.

In what seems to be a move consistent throughout the industry, the D4′s body is strikingly similar to its half-decade-old predecessor. There’s no edgy new design to speak of, and all of the controls are exactly where you’d expect them to be. That’s not to say Nikon didn’t make a few tweaks, however. First, there’s a full set of vertical controls for firing the camera and adjusting key settings without awkwardly reaching around the body to access the buttons up top — an improvement that’s sure to be appreciated by portrait and wedding shooters. The main shutter release was also moved slightly forward, for a more natural feel, and a dedicated movie capture button was added. There’s also a new pair of joystick-like controls for navigating menus and moving around an image while zoomed in during playback. Overall, the additional controls improve upon the interface without introducing clutter — an advantage granted by the generous body size.

A larger body also means more room for ports, and the D4 has plenty. To the left of the 3.2-inch, 921k-dot LCD you’ll find a proprietary connector for the TW-5A plug-in WiFi adapter that can be used to network cameras wireless and even fire them remotely, using the built-in web server. Below that is a full-size Ethernet jack, if you’d prefer to go the wired route. There’s also a remote connector, microphone input jack (!), headphone jack, mini-USB and an HDMI port, which can be used both for video playback and piping out an uncompressed live preview feed, for capturing raw video using a external device. There are also two memory card slots available — one CompactFlash and one XQD, for use with the high-speed next-gen format announced last month. All the main multipurpose controls are just to the left of the memory card slots, while secondary buttons can be found below and to the left of the LCD — essential controls are now backlit, making them possible to find in the dark.

We weren’t permitted to publish photos and video shot with the D4, so unfortunately we can’t speak to the camera’s image quality, though we were able to dig up some samples captured by Nikon photographers, including two shot at ISO 6400. Of course, we’re just as curious as you about what it’s like shooting at ISO 204,800, but it appears that we’ll need to wait at least a few more days to find out. For now, hit up the source link for five sample images from Nikon, and stay tuned for our full review.

Yesterday, AllThingsD reported that Apple is planning a late January media event in New York City that appeared to have something to do with Apple’s publishing or advertising efforts rather than any hardware announcements. TechCrunch weighed in a few hours later with word that the event is indeed focused on publishing and the iBookstore.

At the time of our report on that information, we suggested that digital textbooks could be a possibility for the event given that Steve Jobs’ biographer Walter Isaacson has indicatedseveral times that one of Jobs’ last goals had been to revolutionize textbooks. According to Isaacson:

His idea was to hire great textbook writers to create digital versions, and make them a feature of the iPad. In addition, he held meetings with major publishers, such as Pearson Education, about partnering with Apple.

Adding to the speculation about textbooks perhaps playing a role in the upcoming announcement is information we’ve received from a source indicating that Apple last month filmed a series of short interviews with textbook industry executives. The interviews are said to have been of the type that would be used in one of Apple’s promotional overview videos for a new product or service.

Our source cautions us that there is no direct evidence tying the interviews to the upcoming media event and that Apple frequently films promotional video segments and commercials that never see the light of the day, but the timing of the filming seems to be in line with possible preparations for the media event.

Even more fuel for the idea that the event may carry an education focus comes from a new blog post from Clayton Morris of Fox News, who claims that the event will focus oniTunes U and perhaps textbooks.

Here is what I know from sources involved:

- This event will focus on iTunes University and Apple in education
- I learned of the event back in September when it was originally scheduled for late Fall in New York but it was eventually postponed.
- The event will be in New York rather than in the Silicon Valley because New York is more centrally located for textbook and publishing.
- This initiative has been in the making for years.
- The announcement will be small in size but large in scope: a big announcement in a demure space.
- I expect at least two large project announcements as they relate to Apple in education.
- Steve Jobs was intinimately [sic] involved with this project before his passing. He gave a hat tip to the textbook side of this project in the Isaacson biography.
- This will not be a hardware-related announcement.

Morris has a bit of a mixed track record, having weighed in just ahead of Apple’s originaliPad introduction in January 2010 to correctly predict the device’s appearance (an easy guess) but miss with his predictions of discussion relating to iOS 4 and an update to iLife.

At the time of the iPad’s debut in early 2010, Apple was said to have struck deals with textbook publishers to bring their content to the iPad, but Apple has so far been rather quiet on the topic of textbooks on the iPad and offerings have so far been limited.

Update: 9to5Mac also indicates that the iTunes team in on “lockdown mode” heading into the media event, suggesting that the announcement is indeed related to content of some sort.

Update 2: Ars Technica adds its voice to the rumors surrounding digital textbooks:

And based on information from our own sources, we believe the announcement could likely involve support for the EPUB 3 standard, which enables a wider variety of multimedia and interaction features. [...]

Incidentally, one source who has worked with Apple to integrate technology in education recently suggested that Apple may have important changes coming to its iBooks platform directed specifically toward the academic set. Digital textbooks represent another nascent market that Apple could potentially upend as it did with music and mobile apps.

Woo, boy. We’ve been bursting at the seams to share this one, and it’s finally time — Engadget is teaming up with the one and only eBoy(read our introduction here) in order to open up our very own t-shirt shop! We’ve worked with eBoy over the years, and we’ve never been let down by their mind-blowing work. Every so often, we’ve offered up a stash of shirts for our dear readers to snap up, and every time, they were gone before sundown. That’s just not right. To remedy said quandary, we’ve worked up a beautiful arrangement that’ll have one of our favorite artists whipping out t-shirt designs for us, and they’ll be handling the orders and logistics as they’ve been doing for years. Pre-orders are live worldwide right now, and initial shipments should start flowing around mid-October. Our first five designs are showcased in the gallery below, and if you’re interested, surf on down to the source link below to grab one (or two!). They’re priced at $24 (US / Canada), or €20 elsewhere, and if you’re curious about sizing, have a look at American Apparel’s size chart right here.

We hope you love ‘em as much as we do, and we’ll be giving 50 percent of the proceeds received to Child’s Play Charity, which provides games, books and cash for sick kids in children’s hospitals across North America and the world.

Ever since Juliet teased Romeo about kissing “by the book,” women and men have been striving to do it better. But is smooching really that big a deal? Yes! New scientific research proves it can make or break a relationship.

Here, our three-step guide to unforgettable kissing:

Listen to Your Lips

Sixty-six percent of women have broken off a relationship after a bad first kiss, according to study results from evolutionary psychologist Gordon G. Gallup Jr., Ph.D., at the University at Albany. And that’s not shallow: “Kissing is nature’s ultimate litmus test,” says Sheril Kirshenbaum, author of The Science of Kissing. “Sometimes you can kiss someone you think is ideal, and yet suddenly you feel different. Women are most attracted to the scents of men with a different set of genes.”

Keep Practicing

Fun stat: 20 percent of college students have romantically kissed more than 20 people. Once you’re settled, keep at it. A study from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, found that kissing releases chemicals that reduce the stress hormone cortisol. “Kissing is something that often falls by the wayside when we’re with someone for a long time,” says Kirshenbaum. “So when you have somebody, keep kissing them, because it’s the ultimate way to reconnect.”

Make Every Time Like the First Time

In Christina Haag’s recent memoir, Come to the Edge, she dishes about her romantic relationship with John F. Kennedy Jr. After practicing fake kissing for a play, the onstage lovers finally really lock lips. Writes Haag: “We sat for a while under the stars and felt no need to speak. But then he did. ‘Can I do this for real?’ He didn’t wait for an answer; he leaned in. Only our lips touched. It was gentle, hands-free, exquisite. I opened my eyes for a second … and saw, by the lines at his eyes, that he was smiling.”

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Not feeling like enough of an individual owning the same ultrathin Apple laptop as everyone else? We feel your pain, you need something more in your status symbol hardware. This is where Colorware enters, asking for (at least) $1,850 in exchange for a MacBook Air — made in 2010, exactly to your chromatic specifications. Come on, we can mock and we can decry the price, but if this were ever within the disposable income portion of your budget, wouldn’t you jump at the opportunity? Alas, there’s no option for repainting an Air if you’ve already bought one, so whether you want the 11.6-inch or 13-inch version, you’ll have to buy it directly from Colorware.