Yahoo tweeted today:

77% of searches? That’s a pretty big percentage.

ZDNet says, “HTC has pulled out all the stops with the One, which looks great, performs well and includes some clever features. The lack of storage expansion and the persistence of BlinkFeed are irritations, but overall the HTC One stands up well against rival flagship handsets.”

The Salt Lake Tribune says it’s “slightly better” than the Samsung Galaxy S4.

IBN says it’s “beautiful to look at,” and “powerful to play”.

Here are a few official videos from HTC showing off the device:

The one smartphone would be able to display 3D images without users having to wear glasses, and would use retina-tracking technology to let people use their eyes to navigate through content, which would appear to float above the screen like a hologram, according to the report. The device would reportedly support 4G LTE and would come with Qualcomm chips.

Finally, the Journal’s sources suggested that Amazon’s efforts could lead to a streaming music service that would compete with the likes of Pandora and Spotify, and presumably accompany the aforementioned audio-streaming device. They also indicated that the company wants to release some of the offerings in the coming months, but they could be abandoned if financial or performance concerns become too great.

We’ve been hearing rumors about Amazon smartphones for quite some time. Speculation has been happening for years. Frankly, it would make a great deal of sense alongside its Kindle and Kindle Fire devices as the company increasingly competes with Apple and Google.

In March, rumors heated up that Amazon planned to launch a Kindle Phone in Q2.

The device will be available from Friday, April 12.

In addition, T-Mobile is offering the iPhone 4S for $69.99 down and $20 per month for 24 months and the iPhone 4 for $14.99 down and $15 per month for 24 months.

While the 4S and 4 will be available in select markets, the iPhone 5 will be available nationwide.

“This is an important day for people who love their iPhone but can’t stand the pain other carriers put them through to own one,” said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile USA. “We feel their pain. I’ve felt the pain. So we’re rewriting the rules of wireless to provide a radically simple, affordable iPhone 5 experience — on an extremely powerful network.”

T-Mobile also announced today a new simplified rate plan, and eliminated the need for customers to enter into contracts.

Every so often, we see sources indicating that they have leaked images of Apple’s new devices, and the iPhone 5S (or iPhone 6, or whatever you want to call it at this point) is no different. Obviously, they’re not always legit, so a grain of salt is always required.

Recently, some assembly line photos showed an alleged look at the device, but were later reported to be “likely an iPhone 5 clone”.

Now, iOSDoc claims to have received some new photos from a “very reliable source,” showing an A7 quad-core CPU and GPU, and 2GB of RAM.

iOSDoc says:

The iPhone 5S will come with a new quad-core Apple A7 processor, clocked at 1.2Ghz and iOS 7. The phone’s design will probably be very much similar to the iPhone 5, getting only hardware and software improvements. iOS 7 will also come with a highly improved Siri, able to “do a lot of new cool stuff.” Unfortunately our source didn’t want to speak very much about this aspect.

The new A7 SoC was to be expected, but we didn’t anything until now about the amount of cores or clock rate. It should be much faster than Apple’s dual-core A6, which is clocked at 1.3Ghz. A7 will also feature the PowerVR quad-core SGX554MP4 graphics processor, also featured in the 4th generation iPad. This amount of power will definitely be able to widen the possibilities of gaming, but should get us worried about battery life.

Obviously we can can’t confirm the legitimacy of the image, so take it as you will.

He spent most of his segment of the call talking about the strides the company has made in mobile, and the monetization opportunities that come along with them. The company did announce that its mobile daily active users surpassed web daily active users for the first time in the fourth quarter.

“Today there’s no argument,” Zuckerberg proclaimed. “Facebook is a mobile company.”

So, being a mobile company, some may wonder if Facebook may follow its peers into the mobile device business. After all, what’s good enough for Apple, Amazon and Google must be good enough for Facebook, right?

I’m sure Zuck is very sorry to crush your dreams, but no, there won’t be a Facebook phone anytime soon. Here’s the quote (via CNET):

“We’re not going to build a phone,” he said during the social network’s earnings call Wednesday. “It’s not the right strategy for us to build one integrated system…Let’s say we sell 10 million units — that would be 1 percent of users. Who cares for us?”

Even as recently as this month, some thought Facebook would unveil a phone. Ahead of the event at which Graph Search was unveiled, rumors circulated that the company would make such an announcement. Obviously that didn’t happen.

Of course it’s unlikely that Zuckerberg would say, “Yeah, we’re going to work on a Facebook phone at some point in the future,” (although he did hint at the search product in previous conversations), but what he said on Wednesday makes a great deal of sense, and it’s consistent with the message he’s conveyed in the past.

On top of that, Facebook already has a great relationship with Apple right now, and despite not talking to Google, is able to get plenty of use out of Android, not to mention other platforms.

Who really wants to buy a Facebook phone anyway?

Image: Gawker

Rumors are also coming out that the price of such a device could range from $99 to $149. Bloomberg is reporting, citing a person familiar with the plans, who asked not to be named because negotiations are private, that Apple is weighting retail prices in that range on the device, which would be launched in late 2013. Bloomberg’s Olgoa Kharif and Adam Stariano report:

Executives at Apple have been particularly interested in building a lower-cost model with less-expensive components as a way to appeal to customers in emerging markets, another person has said.

On Tuesday, a report from Digitimes indicated that Apple would release a low-cost version of the iPhone for emerging markets like China (where Apple CEO Tim Cook is said to have made a trip this week). That report said:

Some sources claimed that they have seen the sample of the low-cost iPhone, which will come with a larger display, meeting the prevailing trend for the adoption of 5-inch displays for high-end models. They added that the low-priced iPhone will also have a brand new exterior design.

Those sources also indicate that the recent introduction of low-cost Qualcomm processors could play a role in Apple releasing a low-cost iPhone.

The device runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and HTC Sense 4+. It features a 1.7 GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 AP37 processor and 64GB of internal storage. The LTE version is up to 67% faster than the HTC One X LTE, according to the company, which insists that it’s the best rated Android phone on the market.

HTC CEO says of the device, “We are taking the HTC One X to a new level with the introduction of the new HTC One X+. Our customers will have super-fast browsing, an even better camera and more immersive entertainment with Beats Audio.”

The device also features a 2100 mAh battery, which HTC says provides up to 50% (6 hours) more talk time.

While no timeframe for a North American release has been given thus far, HTC says there will be a separate announcement regarding availability of the device on this continent.

Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 4+ is scheduled to begin rolling out for the HTC One S and HTC One X this month.

The top ad, based on the firm’s “Ace Score” metric, was Samsung’s The Best Of A Phone And Tablet, but numbers two and three were “Pictures Made Bigger” and “Shaped to Fit the Ears” respectively. Those are both iPhone 5 ads. Here’s Ace Metrix’s list of the most effective mobile phone ads of 2012 to date:

The Ace Score is described as the measure of the ad’s creative effectiveness, based on viewer-reaction to national TV ads. Ace Metrix obtains this by randomly selecting respondents, which it says are representative of the U.S. TV viewing audience, and the results are presented on a scale of 1-950. Attributes that go into the scoring include: relevance, persuasion, watchability, information, attention, etc.

“While they are still neck and neck with Samsung from ad effectiveness perspective in the mobile phone category, Apple’s performance in promoting the iPhone 5 was an improvement vs. many of the recent celebrity efforts for Siri,” noted Ace Metrix CEO Peter Daboll. “However, the iPhone ‘launch’ ads almost always perform well – part of the ‘i-phoria’ that accompanies these new product introductions.”

According to the firm, Apple’s new ads have performed particularly well among wealthy young women. The panoramic camera ad in particular, the firm says, appealed heavily to moms.

In addition to a better camera, better battery life, better Wi-Fi and LTE connectivity, the device comes with a new A6 processor, which Apple says increases the CPU power by 2X. The graphics are also twice as fast, Apple says (compared to the A5).

“With the new A6 chip, just about everything you do on iPhone 5 is noticeably faster — up to twice as fast compared with the A5 chip. So apps launch, web pages load, and email attachments appear almost instantly,” says Apple. “The A6 chip also offers graphics performance that’s up to twice as fast as the A5. So you can power through graphics-intensive apps and games. And enjoy higher frame rates for smoother, more realistic gameplay.”

“Not only is the A6 chip custom designed to be fast, it’s custom designed to work with iOS 6 to be extremely power efficient,” the company says. “So even at its accelerated speed, iPhone 5 has more than enough battery power to last throughout the day — up to 8 hours of browsing on a cellular connection, up to 8 hours of talk time, and up to 10 hours of video playback time.”

Here’s a slide the company showed indicating various speed increases (image credit: The Verge):

The chip is 22% smaller than the A5.

The device will release on September 21. Pre-orders start Friday.

More iPhone 5 coverage here.

It’s powered by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and leverages T-Mobile’s 4G (HSPA+ 42) network. T-Mobile is really touting the business features of the phone.

“The Galaxy S Relay 4G is also a SAFE (Samsung Approved for Enterprise)-designated device that offers a full portfolio of enterprise-ready features and capabilities,” says T-Mobile. “Samsung SAFE offers comprehensive IT Policy support for top-tier mobile device management (MDM) solutions, on-device AES-256 bit encryption, and enhanced support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, as well as integrated support for a range of virtual private network solutions.”

It has a ful 5-row QWERTY keyboard and 1.5-GHz Dual-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 processor. T-Mobile says this enables business customers to quickly view and edit documents and share files. It has Wi-Fi Calling and support for Smartphone Mobile HotSpot for up to five devices (with a qualifying plan).

It has a 4-inch, Super AMOLED screen, a 5-megapixel rear camera, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera and 720p HD camcorder (1280×720) resolution. It comes with T-Mobile TV in mobile HD2, which lets you watch live TV, as well as Samsung Media Hub for renting and buying movies and TV show.

“Consumers are increasingly looking for a powerful device that makes it easy to integrate their busy work and personal lives,” said Andrew Morrison, vice president of product management, T-Mobile USA. “The Galaxy S Relay 4G is the perfect addition to T-Mobile’s popular Galaxy smartphone lineup, providing our customers with a reliable and business-centric Android experience — and the easy access to entertainment for which Galaxy devices are known.”

The Galaxy S Relay 4G will be available nationwide at T-Mobile stores, and other select retailers (and at T-Mobile.com, of course) in the coming weeks.