The words soon and Verizon should be taken very thinly these days though, just ask Galaxy Nexus fans who are still waiting for an official US release date, despite the fact that Europe will be getting the world’s first Ice Cream Sandwich phone on November 17 – that can’t be too easy to stomach can it?

Back to the Droid Charge though, and there is a new software update for you to try out if your handset is rooted, as reported from Droid-Life. The download has been provided by the good guys over at MyDroidWorld and thanks to p3Droid, he has listed all the download links as well as instructions to get you started. As with every other unofficial software update though, you will void your warranty with Samsung by installing this new Gingerbread build, and you may run the risk of doing some damage to your handset.

With that said and done, we only recommend this to those of you who are used to installing unofficial updates to Android handsets. There doesn’t appear to be any feedback yet from users who have tried this yet, but we’re happy to note that there are not any major issues with the update as of yet, so go ahead and try this on your Droid Charge now.

As for the official update, don’t count on Verizon releasing it any time soon, as they are probably more concerned about the upcoming launches for the Droid RAZR and Galaxy Nexus. Then of course there’s the HTC Rezound as well, so it’s a busy time on Big Red for everybody at the moment.

If you do have a Droid Charge and are willing to try this out, let us know how you get on.

As most of you know, the Nexus Prime will be arriving on Verizon, and will instantly become the carrier’s flagship handset after the Motorola Droid Bionic. There has been no confirmation as such yet on whether the Nexus Prime will be adopting the ‘Droid’ moniker or not, but it seems like Verizon is well and truly prepared to pull out all the stops to make way for the Nexus Prime.

One such ploy that they have used and has seemingly slipped off the radar, is the fact that there has now been an instant $100 price cut knocked off the now-ancient Samsung Droid Charge smartphone, as discovered by Droid-Life. The handset is one of Verizon’s 4G LTE capable devices, and was previously available for the price of $299 on a two-year agreement with the carrier.

Now though, a quick glance on the listing over at Verizon’s website shows the new pricing for the Droid Charge and you don’t need to think too hard to work out that this move is purely based on the fact that the Nexus Prime is arriving imminently, and Verizon are looking to shift as many of their Droid Charge stock while they can.

The Droid Charge is not a bad phone by any means, but you’ll probably be slightly mad if you choose to buy one now with the mighty Nexus Prime rocking Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich just around the corner. This $100 price cut by Verizon will probably be followed by a collection of online retailers that also stock the Droid Charge, so if you were previously interested in the handset and were looking for a bargain – now’s the time to grab it.

Obviously, it’s bad news for those that paid full price for the Droid Charge – so spare a thought for those consumers as we start another week of Nexus Prime anticipation.

The Droid Charge has been available on Big Red for around five months now and has won widespread praise for its excellent battery life, compared to the first 4G LTE device, the HTC Thunderbolt which came with terrible battery life in comparison.

The handset shipped with Android 2.2 Froyo, but if you are familiar with installing custom firmwares on Android devices, you may want to do a bit of DIY firmware updating, as the reward is the newest build of Gingerbread – version 2.3.4 identified on the Droid Charge by a build number of EP1W as detailed over at MyDroidWorld.

As always, there are considerable risks when installing an unofficial firmware on your Android device, and this new build is no different. Only attempt to install this if you know what you are doing, as we don’t want to be held responsible for any bricked devices. If you do want to give this a go, you’ll find the download links and full instructions over at MyDroidWorld in the link provided above.

Based on feedback that we have read, it looks like this update is working perfectly, and users even have a revamped TouchWiz interface to play around with after installing. Considering Samsung’s infamous repuation for delivering official firmware updates for their devices, it may be worth giving the EP1W build a try if you are bored of your current firmware setup.

For those of you who do have this new version installed on the Droid Charge, let us know how the update process went for you so others can try it with confidence.

Once you download this update you will be able to connect to any Wi-Fi hotspot with ease, which is just what the handset was meant to do from the outset. Users will now be able to rub their friends noses in it that still suffers from poor battery life, as the Droid has been made even better. With some minor enhancements made voice calls have now been extended.

However, there are more than these two updates, as you will soon notice that your browser performance has also been increased, along with email and GPS enhancements. As always you have the choices of updating now manually or waiting for the OTA update that will take place shortly.

If you are looking for more details on this Droid Charge update, then check out this PDF from Verizon. We now wonder if there will be yet another update for the HTC Thunderbolt, as we know that this particular device has struggled when it comes to battery performance compared to the Charge?

Verizon should’ve been proud when they launched their commercials selling both the Droid Charge and the Verizon 4G network, and they have good reason to. When it comes to battery life, the HTC Thunderbolt was a disaster with some owners being told to buy a second battery that will get them through the day, but Samsung’s 4G phone has surprised most people for juice.

With the 4G networks getting to a point that will satisfy users, and a phone that can last a whole day, 4G could start to catch on with buyers. If you can get past the $299.99 price with a two-year contract and a size that’s larger than most, then you may be happy with what you find in the Droid Charge.

You’re going to love or hate the plastic design and light weight (around 5 ounces.), we know that some people prefer something a little heavier with more metal, especially for the price tag. One look at the screen and you forget about materials, the Droid Charge features a screen that shows Samsung are still a leader in screen technology, packing a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus Touch Screen Display that has brilliant detail and vivid colors.

One trend for phone makers is to remove all buttons in favor of all touchscreen, gladly this is not the case with the Droid Charge, and you will find four buttons on the front at the bottom. These let you search, go back, get to a home screen, and load a menu.

Verizon’s 4G LTE network is impressive and sets them apart from the competition, at this time, and with the Charge you should expect 5-12 megabits per second, although we’ve seen more than this reached with a good connection. We would’ve liked to see Android 2.3 Gingerbread running on the Charge, like some other handsets, but you’ll have to enjoy Android 2.2 Froyo for now.

The selling point for us is battery life, the Droid Charge smashes the HTC Thunderbolt on one of the most important features of a phone, and that’s its ability to keep going for longer. Seeing a black screen after a few hours is not good for any device, and having 4G LTE is one of the problems for battery life but it looks like Samsung have solved this with the Charge. It really is good.

You should expect up to 2 days without having to re-juice the standard 1600mAh battery, and this includes messing around with 4G and Wi-Fi. If you play YouTube videos non-stop then you’re going to kill the battery much faster, but you can still expect almost 5 hours of non-stop video playback.

In Summary: If you want a 4G LTE phone with the best battery life, then the Droid Charge is your choice. You just have to get past the plastic feel and price.

Main Features:

• 4.3” Super AMOLED™ Plus Touch Screen Display
• Slimmest 4G LTE Smartphone on Verizon’s lightning fast network
• Android 2.2 Platform
• Loaded with Multimedia and Entertainment
• Size in inches: 5.11×2.66×0.46
• 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera
• 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash
• Hotspot option: share the Droid Charge Wi-Fi connection with up to 10 devices

If this applies to you and you have just purchased the recently released Droid Charge, you are probably wondering if you made the right decision or not and if you just bought the Charge as an impulse buy since it has 4G LTE capabilities.

There are obviously a good deal of you who are very happy with the Droid Charge and will continue to be satisifed when the Droid Bionic is out, but we have a feeling that most of you will be feeling a bit frustrated that the release window between the Droid Charge and Bionic is so narrow.

This is because on paper, the Droid Bionic trumps the Charge in a lot of areas. For starters the Charge is only equipped with a single-core 1Ghz A8 Cortex processor, but the Droid Bionic will be running on 1Ghz dual-core processor, which is obviously a huge difference. Next you have display screen quality, and the Droid Bionic will be sporting a 4.3-inch qHD display, compared to the Charge which only features a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display.

And there’s more. You’ll only get Android 2.2 on the Charge, but the Droid Bionic will almost definitely be equipped with Android 2.3 Gingerbread out of the box when it releases this Summer. You’ll get a better front-facing camera (1.3MP) on the Charge, but the Bionic makes up for this with a dual-LED flash on the back, whereas the Charge only has a single LED flash.

So as you can see, the Droid Charge is definitely second best in a direct comparison with the Bionic. We don’t want to be too harsh on those that have already purchased the Charge, but after reading the details about the two, you might want to try and exchange your Charge for a Droid Bionic as soon as possible.

As a Droid Charge owner, do you regret buying the handset with the Droid Bionic around the corner, or are you happy with your purchase no matter what? Give us your thoughts on this Verizon ultimatum.