Alain Mutricy is the senior VP of portfolio and product management at Motorola. More importantly, he has an awesome French accent that turned this intro video for the DROID 4 into an instant classic. I’m not sure that I want to buy one anymore than I did before watching it, but that is not this video’s fault. Just watch and enjoy.

One of our favorite features in all of Ice Cream Sandwich is the set of quick controls that the stock browser offers. We featured these controls during one of our Android 4.0 tutorials and have even turned to 3rd party browsers like Browser Plus because it offered an expanded set of them. They really do make your browsing experience that much more fluid should you get the hang of the idea. Unfortunately, we felt like we were stuck with two extremes when it came to stock or Browser Plus controls. What I mean by that is, the stock browser only offered the ability to switch tabs, load settings or activate the address bar, while Browser Plus seemed to offer too many controls, making the experience a little overwhelming.

In Android 4.0.4, Google has found the perfect balance in activating a couple of extra controls. As you can see from the screenie up top, you now have the ability to add a tab and jump into bookmarks. These probably should have been activated initially, but for whatever reason, we are just now getting them in 4.0.4.

If you have yet to use “Quick Controls,” I highly suggest that you give them a shot. Head into Settings>Labs through the browser to get started.

You can install Android 4.0.4 on you Galaxy Nexus using these instructions.

*Note – As many have pointed out in the comments, these were available in 4.0.3 as well, but only those that were able to flash ROMs could experience them.

Cheers samuel!

Two days ago, Motorola announced that a new update was headed to the DROID Bionic. We assumed that it was the 5.9.902 update that our sources tipped us off about a few weeks back, and sure enough that is exactly what it is. The update will introduce a couple of pieces of bloatware, but most importantly will make the device more stable – something that Bionic uses have been asking for from day 1. Black screen lockups, camera issues, idle resets, and multimedia dock freezes have all been addressed. Oh, battery life should also be a tad better.

The update is 57.6MB in size. Be sure to let us know when it pops up on your device.

Update:  If you a part of the Motorola Feedback Network and have registered your Bionic or soak tests, you should be able to pull the update now.

More info.

Cheers Dan!

Starting Friday (yes, the same day that the DROID 4 goes on sale), Verizon will re-launch their “Double Data” promo for 4G LTE devices. As long as you purchase a new LTE device and add on at minimum a $30 data package, Big Red will double your data amount for the same price. Their 2GB, 5GB, and 10GB plans will turn into 4GB, 10GB, and 20GB plans without a jump in price. No time frame details were given to us, but this promo won’t last forever. The last time VZW introduced “Double Data,” customers were able to double up from early November to mid-January.

In related news, a buy-one-get-one free (BOGO) deal will go live that same day for the DROID RAZR and the RAZR MAXX. Priced at $199 and $299 respectively, this will be one of the better deals we have seen from Verizon in a long time. The RAZR MAXX is all of 3 weeks old and at least in our minds, is one of the top Android smartphones ever (our full review). Whether you are a new or existing customer, you may want to consider jumping into action on Friday.

Verizon confirmed this morning what we reported last week, the DROID 4 will be available this Friday (February 10) for $199 on new 2-year contract. The device is the first 4G LTE device with a slideout keyboard and dual-core processor, making this the option for those that can’t live with an on-screen keyboard only and want something fairly future-proofed. We have had our hands all over this device, something you will want to check out if you are in the market for a new smartphone.

And that’s that.  

Let’s be honest, notification toggles should have been built into Ice Cream Sandwich. Custom ROMs have had them for months, plus OEMs have even started building them into their skins. For whatever reason though, Google left them out and non-rooted users who own stock devices are stuck looking for options. One of those is Power Control Plus, an app that I was a huge fan of pre-ICS. This used to be a go-to app for customizing home screens as it gives you a ton of options for making the ultimate power widget. Once Honeycomb (Ice Cream Sandwich too) was released though, the app was given the ability to dock itself in the notification bar.

You don’t need root or a custom ROM – this can be installed with the tap of a couple of buttons. Colors, toggles and other goodies can be added thereafter.

Market Link ($1.99)

Cheers TheAndroid1!

After Friday’s bombshell concerning the LTE Galaxy Nexus losing official AOSP “support” from Google was barely addressed, a somewhat deeper explanation as to what this means has finally been delivered. According to Android engineer Dan Morril, the device is still a supported “Nexus” device for “everyday use” and will receive updates and all that jazz. Google is just now making it public that they can’t lock down licenses for CDMA binaries like they do with GSM, therefore they cannot distribute them. So to have their developer pages represented appropriately, they have to say that “no CDMA devices are supported.”

Full message below.