Musouka pointed to a PDF in a comment earlier about the changes to the JLPT in 2010.  See here. (Thanks Musouka!)

Some juicy information includes:

• Starting in 2009, the current JLPT will be held twice a year
• JLPT 1 and 2 (current levels) will be held in July 2009
• JLPT 1-4 (current levels) will be held in December 2009 as it has in the past
• Testing in July will be conducted in Japan as well as in a limited number of locations in China and elsewhere overseas
• Apparently the test will be created with a more communicative approach in mind; one complaint some have with the JLPT is the student ends up studying for the test–but this is true for all tests, I’m sure.
• To reduce the 3 to 2 gap and increase level 1 difficulty, the test levels will be reorganized into a 5-level format
• The new test will have 5 levels: N1, N2, N3, N4, and N5; the “N” may stand for both “Nihongo” and “New.”

N1: Approximately the same passing level as the existing Level 1 test, but designed to
enable slightly more advanced abilities to be measured as well.
N2: Approximately the same passing level as the existing Level 2 test.
N3: Positioned at a level bridging existing Level 2 and Level 3 tests.
N4: Approximately the same passing level as the existing Level 3 test.
N5: Approximately the same passing level as the existing Level 4 test.

• All the tests, N1 through N5, will consist of both a Reading Section (covering Writing-Vocabulary as well as Reading and Grammar) and a Listening Section.
• This round of revisions will not extend to the introduction of tests of oral and compositional ability
  leaving it as future challenge.

I think a lot of people will be happy about the test being offered twice a year. Having it only once a year made failing all the more painful. 

The test now has an official website: http://www.jlpt.jp I wasn’t aware of this website, but I could have just been a little behind the times on this one.