Wirefly: 'no Skype' on Thunderbolt, but simultaneous 3G voice and data is a go; ships on March 17th

Wireless retailer Wirefly is pushing ahead with pre-orders for the beleaguered HTC Thunderbolt starting at midnight Pacific Time this evening with the promise that they'll start shipping this Thursday, the 17th; that lines up with a whole lot of noise we've heard recently, so we can't really argue with it at this point. They're also confirming a couple rumors that have been floating around since the phone's January debut: first, they're saying "no Skype," which we're taking to mean that the promised Skype video calling app won't be installed out of the box. We're also assuming (or at least hoping) that you'll be able to install the standard voice-only version. Secondly, they're saying that the phone definitely does simultaneous voice and data over 3G, a feature that was just recently made possible on Verizon's CDMA network through software upgrades -- and the Thunderbolt, it seems, will be the first retail device to have the pleasure of taking it for a spin.

LG Revolution passing through the FCC, four Gs intact

We managed to see plenty of the LG Revolution at both CES and Mobile World Congress, and it's now finally cleared one of the final hurdles on its way to availability. While there's unfortunately none of the usual teardown pictures to be found just yet, the phone has now passed all of the FCC's various tests, and been slapped with the requisite label to prove it. Sadly, we still don't have much indication of a release date but, as Wireless Goodness points out, there's an increasingly good chance that this could actually be Verizon's first 4G phone if the HTC Thunderbolt delays continue.

iPads and other Connected Devices Now Driving New Subscriber Growth at Carriers

Wireless carriers like AT&T (NYSE: T) are adding more new customers through tablet sales than smartphones, according to a new report.

Chetan Sharma’s report makes clear what was already pretty well known: interest in tablets, e-readers and other so-called “connected devices,” is growing each quarter and is even outpacing growth in smartphones, the darling of the mobile community the last several years. While it’s often easy for a new product to grow faster than a more established one, AT&T added more new customers in the fourth quarter because of tablet sales compared to smartphone sales for the fifth straight quarter, according to Sharma’s report.

And most of that is on the back of a single device: the iPad. Connected devices now make up 10 percent of AT&T’s subscription base, slightly more than the 9 percent connected-device share among Verizon’s subscribers. Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has a distinct advantage over the competition when it comes to distribution, Sharma wrote: it doesn’t have to depend on carriers to sell its tablets, with a huge network of stores and retail partners giving it more control.

Competition is heating up with the release of Google’s Honeycomb Android software, the first version of Android designed specifically for tablets. But devices like Motorola’s Xoom are just now hitting the market, whereas Apple is expected to introduce its second-generation iPad Wednesday in San Francisco. “We expect iPad to dominate the space in 2011 as competitors will find it hard to compete across all dimensions - price, performance, ecosystem, distribution, and brand power,” Sharma wrote.

Lest anyone think the smartphone era is over already, Sharma notes that 48 percent of all phones sold in the U.S. during the fourth quarter were smartphones, as opposed to 25 percent of phones sold internationally. And those smartphones are chewing through a lot more data, up 132 percent in 2010 as compared to the previous year.

Wirefly now dropping AT&T sales next month for reasons unknown

Wirefly -- one of the largest independent wireless retailers around -- has made waves in a post by CEO Andy Zeinfeld saying that they'll no longer be offering AT&T devices and contracts as of next month. The reasons for the move are unclear; Zeinfeld says that "circumstances prevent [them] from being able to deliver" on the company's customer service principles -- and considering that it's probably in Wirefly's best interest to offer as many carriers as it can in all but the most extenuating situations, there must be some serious drama going on here behind the scenes. We figure it could be a disagreement on commissions or the terms of Wirefly's contracts with its customers, but whatever the case, the company assures existing buyers that the terms of its guarantee still apply and that it "will work with AT&T toward the goal of offering their products and services again in the future."

Huawei offering to build out London Underground cellular coverage for free

No such thing as a free lunch, is there? China's Huawei has generously offered to pick up the roughly £50 million ($81 million) tab for equipment to line London's sprawling subway system with mobile phone reception, a package it says it's extending as a gift from Olympic host nation to another (London will host the 2012 Summer Olympics, and it has said in the past that it'd like the Tube wired in time). The official line is that Huawei would make its money back over time through maintenance contracts, but some politicians are raising red flags over the Chinese firm's potential control over a critical piece of London's wireless infrastructure -- a sentiment that seemed to help kill a potential Huawei deal with Sprint in the States. Of course, the over-connected nerd in us is tempted to brush off espionage concerns if it means we can stay on email all the way from the West End to the Docklands.

Connect your Android phone to ADB wireless - Tech News By ShoppingKoo

When developing Android applications, you need to connect your phone to a computer, and the ADB. The cable seems the simplest way, but i'll show you a much better way: it's called adbWireless!

With this small application, you can connect your phone to the ADB via wireless network only using IP number. There is no need for cable, vendor id settings or anything else...
Important note: This application requires root permission!

1. Step: Download and install adbWireless application to your phone.

2. Step: (Unplug your phone from the computer.) Run the application, turn adbWirelss on, and notice the IP number.

3: Step: Open a prompt, and navigate to your Android SDK folder where the ADB is located (/tools or /platform-tools).
Then type: adb connect your IP:port
(It's the line, wich is given to you by the application)

4. Step: Enjoy! (Now you can connect your phone via USB for charging)

Pro: 
- No cable needed
- No vendor id settings or any other magic tricks needed
- It's free, and support any Android phone and version
- Easy sensor-application testing

Contra:
- You need root permission