It appears that Verizon's promised fix for those odd Galaxy Nexus signal strength issues won't be quite as far-reaching as we originally thought: the carrier tells Computerworld an upcoming software patch "will adjust the signal strength indicator to more closely match other Verizon Wireless devices." That's it — the radio firmware itself will remain unchanged, and Verizon says "there is no issue with the performance of the device." It's essentially the same move Apple pulled in response to the iPhone 4 "death grip" controversy, when it updated the iOS signal meter to show bigger bars, and it's also in stark contrast to some of the reports of inconsistent and sporadic network performance we've been hearing. We'll see if simply changing how the phone displays its network status ameliorates the issue, or if there's a deeper problem lurking within.

Update: Here's the full statement from Verizon:

There is no issue with the performance of the device. There is a difference in the way the signal is translated into bars on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus compared to other smart phones. A future software update will adjust the signal strength indicator to more closely match other Verizon Wireless devices.