Video of the week - My first video shot with the upcoming Droid 4.

Want a Droid with a physical keyboard? Check out the new Droid 4!

The Droid 4 according to Motorola, is the thinnest and most powerful 4G QWERTY smartphone on the market. Well, on the market soon. The Droid 4 should be available February 2012. It runs on the Verizon 4G LTE network, has a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor and 1GB of RAM. There’s a bright, beautiful 4″ screen, a front facing camera for video chat and an 8MP rear camera. If you prefer a Droid phone with a keyboard, this Droid 4 could be for you. I really like the slide out five-row PC-like keyboard. The keys are both back and edge-lit for fast, precise typing, even in the dark. A light sensor activates the backlight when it's too dark to type. I only had about a day to play with this impressive phone and it’s a great performer. As a little web speed test, I used a Droid X2 on Verizon’s 3G network as a comparison. I loaded web sites with the phones side by side. I’d say the Droid 4, using Verizon’s 4G LTE network, loaded web pages about 20 to 25% faster. At least that’s my estimate. I think the HD 1080P Video I shot looked really great too. It lost a bit of resolution with YouTube's conversion which for some reason took a full hour. The Droid 4 will be available soon. Price TBA. At CES most folks were guessing between $200 & $300 with a 2 year Verizon contract. Therefore I’ll go with $249.99 as my guess! It’s not on the Verizon website yet, but it should show up there soon:

Giz Wiz Video the Week Shot with Droid 4: http://youtu.be/4WA1D00O_GI   

Still photos from the Droid 4 http://gizwiz.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Photo-from-Droid-4/21224132_FwvXrS

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1350

(This link usually goes live the Sunday after we record this show.)