The Google Nexus 4 made by LG has been more successful than anybody could have imagined and one of the reasons for its success was that being a Nexus device it offers a pure vanilla Android experience, great for those who like to customize their phones. It will also be one of the first in line to receive future Android operating system updates. Today we have news of a software mod that will enhance video recording and more news about a LiquidSmooth Jelly Bean ROM.

Demand for the Nexus 4 is still outstripping supply but for those fortunate enough to have already got their hands on one it offers plenty of opportunities for tweaking and the use of custom ROMs. Firstly one of the ingenious hackers/developers over at XDA, mohit1234, has come up with a mod that will gift significant advances to the Nexus 4’s video capture capabilities with a clearer picture and also less noise than with the default setting.

The software mod will increase the default bitrate of 12mbps to 20mbps, now that’s some improvement. You will require a Nexus 4 that has been rooted and has its bootloader unlocked and access to the system partition via a root file manager app. The only downside is that your new video files will be larger in size, something to bear in mind when considering the rather limited storage on the Nexus 4, a good point made by Phandroid. If you want to check this out then head to this XDA link where you will find full instructions and the dev responsible has also included a zip file for flashing.

Please remember to do a backup of your data, apps and settings before you begin. At this point we’ll give you our usual caution that at Phones Review we never recommend tampering with your device and if you choose to do so it is entirely your own responsibility and at your own risk if something goes wrong. However, we know that many of our readers, and particularly Nexus device owners, enjoy this aspect of owning a smartphone and so like to bring you the latest information.

We also have news of a new LiquidSmooth Jelly Bean 4.2.1 ROM for the Nexus 4, aimed at making your device performance smooth, stable and highly customizable. This custom ROM comes from yet another XDA developer, tspderek, and your Nexus 4 will need to have ClockworkMod recovery installed and have an unlocked bootloader. You can find the LiquidSmooth Jelly Bean ROM download at this XDA link and you can find out much more as well as see full instructions and installation guide at Android Soul here. Once more we’ll remind you that if you choose to use this then it is entirely your responsibility as in our earlier caution.

We have a feeling that a lot of Nexus 4 owners may be entertained this weekend modding their devices. We’re always interested to hear from our readers so let us know of your Nexus 4 experiences. Will you try out either of the above methods? If so we’d like to hear if it all went smoothly for you and what you think of the finished results? Let us know by sending your comments.