I'm a Nikon guy but it really comes down to what you like. They are all so similar especially the big guys. The 18-55 is a good lens, you might want something a big longer for zoom, an 80-300 or something similar. Alternatively a short body fixed lens (50mm) is good to have as well.
I was thinking on getting the t4i and then the EF-S 18-135mm lens.
I'm not pleased with nikon and what they do with their entry-level products. I have a Nikon 7.1MP P&S camera I bought for a stupid reason (Battery life) and then got an older 5MP Samsung that is just so much better than the nikon, it has manual controls and gets you closer to what photography is all about. The Nikon only had "Auto" mode and "Easy auto" mode which removed all information from the display. Is the same with their "not so casual", more serious looking cameras like anything Coolpix (L820 for example), it won't let you key in anything, it's full auto always.
Nikon: You seem to be a wannabee photographer. Here, have our entry level cameras, it has auto mode and we stripped out all useful information from the display, unless you want to know, in that case you have to manually turn it on every time you start the camera. We threw in some scene modes in case you want to take a specific picture of some landscapes or a back-lit subject. In case you're too stupid to take a picture, there is a "Easy auto" mode where even the menu, flash, macro and everything is disabled so you won't get in trouble.
Samsung/Olympus: You seem to be a wannabee photographer. Here, have our entry level cameras, they have an auto mode if you don't know how to take pictures, pay attention to the information on the screen and you'll probably learn a couple numbers that your camera uses to expose the picture. Don't worry too much about it now. If you want to take some special pics, there are a few scene modes. If you're not happy with the results, there is a program mode where the camera will do the hard work and you can play with the ISO and some color settings.
If you're feeling adventurous, engage the manual mode and take control of the camera, key in the exposure and the aperture values. Scan that grey card and let the camera white balance itself, play with the ISO values and color correct your shot or make some artistic stuff with the RGB sliders.
All with our cheapest, point & shoot, entry level cameras.
It is a ridiculous comparison though, Samsung doesn't make cameras with manual modes anymore (my mom got one of the newest ones) and Olympus did that only on their oldest 4MP "Camedia" models. Both brands have been very inconsistent in their camera offers but Nikon is still pushing every "Home user" and "Prosumer" to their biggest models to do the basics and that pisses me off.
Sorry about the crappy pics, my phone defaults to auto mode too after the latest android update.
Meerkat by JDNaturePhotography, on Flickr
and nope I haven't down here there's really nothing. That sort of industry is definitely self employed and getting your name out so but I am thinking about selling a few for a couple of quid! 
