The device was released back in February of this year and like many other Android handsets, consumers were ‘promised’ a swift update to Ice Cream Sandwich shortly after purchase. Seven months later and we’re finally seeing reports of that promise coming true, with some owners stating that they’ve already received a notification over the weekend to update to Android 4.0.4.

You may have already installed Android 4.0.4 if you’re running a custom firmware, but for everyone else you should head into your phone settings and check to see if a manual update can be pushed in your area. The good news is that your phone should perform a lot quicker and will obviously benefit from that simple, but elegant Ice Cream Sandwich UI.

The bad news is that you may lose support for Adobe Flash once installing, since Adobe has now decided to cut all ties with their once essential mobile Flash player. It has been a long seven months of waiting for Droid 4 users, but are you optimistic that the device may defy the odds once again and be upgraded to an official version of Jelly Bean?

It’s probably a long shot officially, but always a possibility with custom software after seeing devices such as the legendary HTC HD2 running Jelly Bean. Let us know if you have already installed ICS, or if you haven’t received the notification in your area yet.

Motorola has just unleashed a barrage of videos giving consumers the perfect opportunity for a detailed insight into the Droid 4 before the handset launches over the weekend. A range of aspects are covered in the tutorial style videos, such as the design of the device which takes a look at that slick 5-row backlit QWERTY slider, to the Smart Actions app from Motorola which allows you to customize your device in order to suit your daily lifestyle, but more importantly disable apps that you don’t need and free up that precious battery life.

If camera quality is important to you, then you’ll want to check out the video below which specifically takes a look at the 8 megapixel camera and a handy little addition to video recording which reduces hand shaking when capturing video. There’s also a demonstration on how to share videos instantly once you’ve taken a clip, including the ability to send 1080p videos directly to YouTube – a feature that will probably be very welcome with new owners.

Moving on, there are also videos which show how the Motorola Droid can be hooked up to the Lapdock 500 accessory for situations when you want to transfer any data from phone to laptop, or edit documents and other media on a big screen. There’s even support for taking calls as well when it is hooked up to the laptop which is particularly impressive.

As with older Droid devices, no accessory is probably more important than the official car dock, and one final video that we have to show you gives you an example of the functionality and interface you can expect to see when you hook your Droid 4 to your motor. What we like about this, is the car dock gives you a slick new interface which is tailored just for in-car purposes. Aside from the navigation features, there is voice-operated calling, and the music feature even allows you to use your data to access internet radio stations.

The Galaxy Nexus may be the device to own on Verizon at the moment since it offers Ice Cream Sandwich, but the Droid 4 is looking like a great addition to the Droid family and it will become even better once someone ports ICS. Let us know what features impress you the most on the Droid 4.

According to a report over at Phandroid the Motorola Droid 4 is going to be released on Friday February 10th, and as reported before will be available for $199.99 with a new 24 month contract. The carrier has some other nice deals on offer though as it brings back its famous buy-one-get-one free deals, which will offer some great handsets.

The recently released Droid RAZR and the impressive Droid RAZR MAXX with its supercharged battery life are part of the BOGOF deal. That is not all as Big Red has also brought back their double data deal, which will offer consumers purchasing a new smartphone up to 4GB of 4G LTE data for only $30.

If you or anyone you know who still uses an aging feature phone, Verizon is offering a $30 gift cards in the Verizon stores in exchange for it. The company is really after you cash as they are also offering $100 off any of the carriers 4G tablets on offer when purchased with any smartphone with a 24 month contract.

Will you be taking any of these deals from Verizon?

We’re not sure how the guys over at Wirefly have managed such an intimate moment with the Droid 4, but we’re just glad that they have wasted no time in putting a video review online, regardless of any media embargos that are probably set in place by both Verizon and Motorola.

We get a chance to see how Motorola’s first 4G LTE slider compares alongside the Droid 3, as well as an in-depth look at how the 8 megapixel camera and video camera perform. Judging by some of the samples shown in the video, you’ll be able to shoot photos with a decent level of quality, but it’s definitely nothing on the amazing side and if you watch the video yourself you’ll probably agree.

The slide-out 5-row QWERTY is the main highlight for many consumers and of course, the 4G LTE support. On one example of a live speedtest, the Droid 4 brought up a download speed of 7.9MB which was pretty good, and there’s also some benchmark tests towards the end of the video which you may want to check out as well.

Will the lack of Ice Cream Sandwich on board put you off from getting this device though? The Droid 4 is likely to ship with Android 2.3.5 as highlight in the video, but you shouldn’t be too concerned about this as we’re willing to bet that a custom version of Ice Cream Sandwich will become available before Motorola and Verizon release an official update.

This video provides an excellent preview of the device and is essential viewing if you are planning to pick it up on contract with Verizon. Is the Droid 4 still your number one priority or are you now less than convinced after seeing this review?

There have already been numerous false starts for the handset but according to an article over at Droid Life the handset is almost here. Sources are claiming the device will become available on Verizon in just over a week on February 9th. It is also believed the price will be at the $199 level that was reported previously.

Of course none of these reports have been confirmed officially by Verizon yet but may have some truth in them. As Gotta Be Mobile are suggesting the Droid 3 is currently on offer on Verizon with the deal finishing on February 6th, and there is a chance this was set to end close to the Droid 4 release date.

Verizon will be looking to sell as many of these as possible before the new model is launched, so the 9th is looking a good bet. Many will love the full size QWERTY slide out keyboard, and in some people’s eyes is the best ever made.

Motorola have been busy in recent weeks with the release of the Droid RAZR MAXX with its supercharged battery life, which has been found to be the longest power time of its kind. Have you been waiting for the Droid 4?

Verizon and Motorola made their first 4G LTE slider official at CES 2012, but the device is still not available to buy at the moment. However, intel picked up by Droid-Life reveals that the device may be launching at the surprise price of $199 on a two-year contract with the carrier.

This will be news met with both delight and perhaps slight shock, since Verizon usually debut all new 4G LTE handsets at $299. It’s worth pointing out though that the recently released LG Spectrum also came in at $199 so perhaps this is a indication that Verizon are now prepared to drop their initial stance on $299 for all new 4G LTE phones as we’ve seen in the past.

This is still fairly surprising to us though, as we would have predicted that most consumers would have bought the Droid 4 at $299 anyway. Having the phone enter at $199 now makes the handset an extremely attractive alternative to the Galaxy Nexus, as a slide-out QWERTY keyboard still remains a crucial feature for a lot of business minded users.

Just out of interest, the document also reveals that three colors of the Droid RAZR will also be getting a price cut as well. If you are interested in picking up one of Motorola’s thinnest smartphones, then you may want to head to your nearest Verizon dealer and enquire about the purple, black and white models.

What are your thoughts on this surprise price cut – does it make your purchase decision even easier? For those of you that bought the Galaxy Nexus – do you regret your decision seeing the Droid 4 at $199?

The Droid 4 is starting to repeat the same pattern as the Galaxy Nexus now, with a great deal of consumer interest resting in Motorola’s first 4G LTE slider. The Droid RAZR Maxx on the other hand is a different beast all together, as it combines the already-impressive Droid RAZR handset with a bigger capacity battery in which Motorola claim can last up to 21 hours on a single charge.

If you are planning to pick up the Droid 4, don’t be surprised if it becomes available at the end of this week on Thursday. We have discovered that Motorola has already started to cut the price of the Droid 3 and when something like this usually happens, it’s often the case that a manufacturer is getting ready to put new hardware on the market, and everyone will be aware and the Droid 4 is long overdue now.

Just to let you know, the Droid 3 can be bought now as little as $99 on contract with Verizon, but we see little benefit in getting one when the superior Droid 4 is about to land. As for the Droid RAZR Maxx, if battery life is important to you, you’ll want to be keeping an eye on when pre-orders become available for the device. Information posted at Droid-Life reveals that Motorola may be preparing to unleash the upgraded version of the RAZR on January 26, with the source of the information coming from Motorola’s own website via a landing page.

If you are on the lookout for a new Motorola handset, which one is the more appealing to you? A brand new slide-out Droid 4, or a Droid RAZR Maxx with arguably the best battery life on the market right now?

While at CES we finally saw an official announcement for the long awaited handset, we still didn’t get an official launch date for the Droid 4 much to the frustration of consumers. On the plus side, Motorola has given fans something to read as they prepare for the phone to come out, by placing the official user manual online.

The manual can be downloaded directly here, courtesy of Droid-Life and it comes in at a 15MB download. You’ll be able to find out very last detail on the Droid 4 to ensure that you are perfectly up to speed on the device’s capabilities, while there’s also useful color illustrations to guide you through some aspects which you may have an issue with.

After reading the manual and deciding that you want to go for the Droid 4, Motorola has also set up a sign-up page, which will ensure that you will be the first to know when the handset will become available for pre-order. One important revelation from the manual that you may not be aware of yet though, is that the Droid 4 features a non-removable battery, so bare that in your mind in your decision to pick one up.

On a side note, those of you outside of the US will be pleased to hear that there are rumors this week suggesting that Motorola will release a Global version of the Droid 4 and LG Spectrum, meaning that those of you in the likes of Europe will be able to enjoy the Droid 4 as well – everyone’s happy.

With the likes of the Galaxy Nexus already available on Verizon, how excited are you about the upcoming Droid 4?

The Motorola Droid 4 was only recently officially confirmed to be coming on the Verizon network at CES 2012 in Las Vegas. The handset was thought to be coming last month and is now believed to be coming sometime next month. When Verizon officially announced the smartphone a couple of days ago they unfortunately still didn’t reveal any release date or pricing.

But now an article over at Droid Life has seemly got hold of a Verizon MAP list that has a number of devices and their prices listed. With a two year contract the Droid 4 is listed at $249.99 and is cheaper than the Droid RAZR Maxx that is listed at $299.99.

The price is dated to start on January 10th and obviously that didn’t happen but will hopefully be accurate when the device does finally become available. The LG Spectrum is also listed and priced at an even cheaper $199.99. The Droid 4 is promised to be the thinnest QWERTY handset available, and the price may not be too bad either.

Will you pay $250 for the Motorola Droid 4?

We have seen many companies debut devices with the ‘world’s thinnest’ tag a lot recently, and unsurprisingly Motorola has once again used this moniker to describe their new Droid 4 handset by saying that it is “the thinnest and most powerful 4G LTE QWERTY smartphone” on the planet.

A quick refresh of specs if you need it, as the Droid 4 features a full 5-row edge lit QWERTY keyboard, a 4-inch qHD display which is scratch and scrape resistant, a dual-core 1.2Ghz processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8 megapixel camera and 1080p HD video recording. This will be yet another Android 2.3 Gingerbread handset, although inevitably Motorola has already confirmed that the Droid 4 is ‘on the list’ to get an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich when the time arises.

Now something which will certainly be an eye-raiser for those that have picked up the Droid RAZR. At CES, Motorola unveiled the Droid RAZR MAXX, which is almost exactly the same as its older brother, but with the addition of a large battery – a 3,300mAh, compared to the 1700 mAh that shipped with the original RAZR. According to Motorola, the RAZR MAXX will be able to output an astonishing 21 hours of battery life on a single charge and with frequent usage.

At the expense of a large battery though, the device will be noticably thicker than the RAZR, but still definitely on the thin range of smartphones at just 8.99mm thick. If you are planning to get the new RAZR MAXX, it will be priced at $299 on a two year 4G LTE contract with Verizon. Like the Droid 4, it will be available within a matter of weeks according to Motorola.

What are your thoughts on both devices, is the Droid 4 with its slick QWERTY slider an instant purchase for you? For those of you that have just purchased a Droid RAZR, do you feel a little robbed that Motorola has already announced an upgrade with extra battery life that you should of had from the start?