Motorola DROID 4 cut to $199.99 before launch according to the latest Verizon MAP

Let's say you paid $199.99 with a 2-year contract this past summer for the Motorola DROID 3. How would you feel now that the same amount of cash might net you the LTE enabled, significantly cooler looking Motorola DROID 4? Verizon's latest MAP was obtained by Droid-Life and while it is not an official list of Big Red's pricing, it has been pretty accurate in the past for certain models and based on the MAP, the next model in the iconic DROID series will have a 2-year contract price of $199.99. During CES, the MAP price for the thinnest LTE powered side-slider was $50 more at $249.99.

Another phone dropping in price based on the MAP is the much maligned Motorola DROID BIONIC which appears on the list at $149.99. That is half the price of the model's launch price. The 32GB Motorola DROID RAZR will also get a haircut to $279.99 on contract.

The actual use of the MAP list is based on the words behind the acronym. The list shows the Minimum Advertised Price which is the lowest price that Verizon resellers can offer each model for in an advertisement. The reason for the list is to prevent a reseller from advertising, say, a Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX at $129 which might make Verizon customers think that something is wrong with the phone, or that it is closer to its EOL than it truly is. The MAP list is not an official Verizon price guide and while it has predicted a phone's price before, you are advised to wait to hear the official numbers from the carrier.

Maximum battery! DROID RAZR MAXX coming on January 26

What was rumored has finally become official - Motorola is launching the DROID RAZR MAXX on January 26, stuffed with that gigantic battery of its, which should vastly improve battery life with the handset. Not only that, but with all of those 3300 mAh, the RAZR MAXX will easily beat almost any other Android handset in terms of battery life, as it will hold enough juice to deliver the exceptional 21.5 hours of talk-time and 15.8 days of stand-by.

DROID RAZR MAXX will come with a 3300mAh battery
Well, there's been a slight trade-off, of course, and it's found with the handset's slightly increased thickness, which is now 8.99mm, instead of 7.1mm. But hey, who cares, as long as the phone it still markedly slim (which it is)? The handset will retail for $299.99 with a two-year contract, and will be equipped with 16GB internal memory as well as a 16GB microSD card - same as the current DROID RAZR 32GB variant. However, keep in mind that you can also get the DROID RAZR 16GB for the more affordable price of $199.99, and then buy a 32GB microSD card for around $30 more, if you need the space. It's your call.

For a limited time, the Motorola DROID 3 is sliced to $49 with a new line

The Motorola DROID 3 might just have become the biggest bargain at Verizon. After cutting the price of the handset to $99, the carrier just gave the solidly built handset another $50 haircut with a new line. The deal runs until February 5th. With a dual-core 1GHz processor driving the phone, and the 4 inch qHD display, the DROID 3 still has some pretty delectable specs. The slide out QWERTY keyboard is still one of the best available. Of course, some of the specs are not up to more recent high-end models, such as the 512MB of RAM. Still, the device has an 8MP camera that delivers 1080p video, and a VGA front-facing camera.

The Motorola DROID 3 originally launched this past July at a price of $199.99. Unfortunately for its owners, it is not an LTE model and if you believe Verizon, will be one of its last flagship devices to not offer 4G connectivity. Verizon is looking to get rid of the model to make room for the recently announced Motorola DROID 4, which is LTE enabled.

DLNA certification means Motorola DROID 4 is closer to launch

Still unannounced, the Motorola DROID 4 moved one step closer to launch when the phone received its DLNA certification. Now that we know that users of the handset can share digital pictures, music and video, we can sit back, relax, and wait for some official word about when the model will be available, and for what price. Current speculation has the Motorola DROID 4 getting displayed next week during the 2012 CES festivities in Las Vegas, with a launch on February 2nd. With the recent pricing structure at Verizon, a $299.99 contract price seems like a good bet.

The Motorola DROID 4 will be the manufacturer's first dual-core, LTE enabled phone with a side-sliding physical QWERTY keyboard. If it launches in February, it will have hit the market just 7 months after the release of the Motorola DROID 3, which is about to be designated EOL by Verizon according to rumors. While not one word confirming that the device exists has been spoken by either Motorola or Verizon officials, pictures of the device have appeared on the DROIDDOES website, and cases for the phone have been already shipped to some retailers.