Since news coverage has been spotty here at Krunker recently (to say the least!), I thought I’d go back in time a little bit and cover some recent cool gadget news. One of the more interesting announcements to have come out in the last week or so was the Samsung Instinct mobile phone for the Sprint network. Yes.. this is Sprint’s (and Samsung’s) full on answer to the Apple iPhone for AT&T. It’s a full touchscreen display with haptics support (which basically means you get tactile feedback on the display) as well as high speed Internet support via Sprint’s EV-DO network. NICE…

The Instinct will be available exclusively via Sprint (so don’t go looking for this phone over at Verizon) for now. Some of the more interesting features on the Samsung Instinct include:

• “Voice to Action” button which provides functions using voice activation – including call, text, picture messaging, traffic, movie, and sports
• Surf the web at broadband speeds
• Support for Sprint Navigation with GPS enabled audio and visual turn-by-turn driving directions
• Live Search powered by Microsoft – includes GPS enabled directions, interactive maps, and one-touch click to call access
• Sprint TV
• Sprint Exclusive Entertainment
• Sprint Music Store
• Pocket Express – up to date information on sports, weather, news, movies, and other options customized to the user’s zip code

Feeling a little geeky? Here are the technical specs to the phone:

• CDMA EV-DO Rev A network support
• Measures 4.57 x 2.17 x 0.49 inches and weighs 4.4 oz
• 3.1 inch TFT LCD display with a resolution of 240 x 432. Also features haptic touch screen
• 2 megapixel digital camera
• Video recording and streaming with support for H.264 and MPEG4
• Support for MP3, AAC, AAC+m, MIDI, QCP, and WMA
• Bluetooth 2.0 with stereo Bluetooth profile support
• WAP 2.0, XHTML, HTML, WML, WMLS capable browser
• PictBridge support
• Phonebook
• 2 GB microSD memory card
• USB Charging Cable
• Two standard 1,000 mAh Lithium Ion Batteries
• Each battery support 5.75 hours of talk time

The phone features three dedicated touch keys on the lower portion of the device to make using the phone extremely easy. The three keys are for phone, back, and home. The phone key takes you back to the phone features of course; the back key always lets you go back a step, and the home brings you access to the four menus of functionality which includes:

• Favorites – one touch access to the things you do the most
• Main – applications including Messaging, Voicemail, GPS Nav etc
• Fun – Music, TV, photos, games, and more
• Web – All things internet including weather and news

Ah yes.. think the iPhone is the only phone with a visual voicemail feature? Think again- the Instinct comes with Visual Voicemail support also – allowing users to listen to messages in their order of preference and manage them with a single tap of the screen.

No word on pricing but the phone will require activation on a Sprint Everything pricing plan offering unlimited data which starts at $69.99 per month. That’s ten bucks more a month than a comparable iPhone entry level plan in case you’re wondering. Expect this phone sometime in June.

Should Apple be worried? Hardly. If anything, Apple should be flattered that so many companies are trying to imitate their design and innovation with the iPhone. With a 3G iPhone right around the corner, and an incredible user interface, nothing will compare to the iPhone for the foreseeable future.

[Check out the press release]

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Sprint, Samsung, Samsung Instinct