Motorola Droid 4 to release on February 10 For $199.99 on Verizon

Today Verizon Wireless and Motorola announced that the latest edition to the DROID family, the Motorola DROID 4, would launch this Friday, February 10th for $199.99. The Motorola DROID 4 will feature 4G LTE connectivity, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal storage, a full QWERTY keyboard, a 4-inch qHD display, and an 8 megapixel camera. The Motorola DROID 4 will launch with Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread), but come with a guarantee to be updated to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).

We first got our hands on this latest addition to the Droid franchise at CES last month and found it should be sure to please old-school Droid and slide-out keyboard fans.
The new Droid is a 4G LTE performer, powered by a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor and Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread to start–Verizon promises an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich is in the works. The 8 megapixel camera is capable of grabbing 1080p HD video and there’s also a handy HDMI out. Alongside the 4 inch qHD display is a front-facing camera for Skype or other video chat platforms.

Verizon likes to say “the Motorola DROID 4 is the thinnest and most powerful 4G QWERTY smartphone measuring at less than half an inch thin.” That’s some serious spin, as the truth is this phone has a relatively thick profile, but such is the price slider fans must pay for the privilege to push actual keys. As we discovered at CES though, its QWERTY keyboard has a nice feel to it and the edge-lit keys are great for texting in the dark.
Verizon is also trying to spin another new angle for this latest Droid–that it’s a worthy business class device. The carrier’s press release touts the Motorola Droid 4′s “Government-grade encryption (FIPS 140-2) for email, calendar and contacts.”
Motorola also reprises the docking concept it first attempted in earnest with last year’s Atrix 4G. The new phone can connect to a $299 Lapdock 500 that features a 14-inch display, full keyboard and built-in webcam. The Motorola Droid 4 will be the 5th compatible phone for the Lapdock 500, along with the Photon 4G, Droid Bionic, Droid Razr and Razr Maxx.
Coinciding with the Friday launch will also be a re-launch of Verizon’s double data deal, getting you 4 GB for your $30 a month instead of the regular 2 GB. Even if you’re not sure about the Droids, odds are that’s the free extra data you’ve been looking for.