Samsung's Instinct iClone Coming to Sprint

Samsung Instinct is coming to Sprint. Yes, it's an iClone.

"Meh," was the word from one Wired staffer who beheld it with his own eyes, but to Sprint users it might very well be the best they can get. EVDO Rev. A offers a huge speed advantage over EDGE, but by the June 1 release date, the iPhone might well have caught up on that front. The touch-screen Instinct also has stereo bluetooth, a 2 megapixel camera and a free 2GB MicroSD card. Gizmodo—which hopes it'll turn out to be the first good competition for Apple—already has a gallery up.

We found out about this the interesting way: an inadvertent leak. CTIA invited me to judge an "innovation" competition without bothering to have us sign NDAs or agree to embargoes. We decided, however, that it wasn't worth dunking some poor CTIA functionary in the lava just to get a scoop on some half-assed, year-late clone.

A datasheet follows after the jump. For a more measured view, the AP's Peter Svensson takes a broad look at the Instinct, which comes out looking somewhat like Sprint's last stand.

The Instinct by Samsung, exclusively from Sprint, is a breakthrough mobile phone that brings a new level of user intuition and speed to the device marketplace. Instinct by Samsung will be fast and feel fast; it uses Sprint’s Rev A network and the user interface is optimized for one touch access to your favorites services. The device packs a host of unique and differentiated applications that include: navigation, high speed web access, threaded messaging, visual voicemail, business and consumer email and entertainment services like music and TV.

The Instinct by Samsung, exclusively from Sprint, redefines speed and user accessibility for touch screen phones. The Instinct by Samsung starts by providing three keys that include a back, home and phone key for very simple and quick navigation. In addition, the touch screen structure was built with a favorites area that allows the user to customize their device so they have one touch access to the four or five services they use everyday. In addition, the device has main, fun and web sections each with great services. The Instinct by Samsung is the ideal fit for technology oriented users, thanks to its full support of navigation, messaging, visual voicemail corporate and personal email, full multimedia functionality, complete HTML browser, Stereo Bluetooth ® 2.0 and 2.0 megapixel camera. The Instinct by Samsung also has plenty of memory capacity to store music, video or images and comes with the 2G card loaded in the microSD slot. The Instinct by Samsung can accept up to 8 GB of external memory. All of these capabilities, along with an attractive, ultra-thin form factor, combine to make the Instinct by Samsung a groundbreaking device.

Target Market:
Instinct by Samsung, exclusively from Sprint, is targeted at Tech Savvy men and woman between the ages of 20 – 45 who embrace technology and use it everyday. These are people that use their phone for more than just a conversation and really embrace the ability to use advanced services like navigation, high speed web access and messaging.

Please describe what differentiates your product/service from competing products/services:
Where the Instinct by Samsung really sets itself apart is speed and ease of use. By allowing users to customize the device menu to reflect their favorite and most often used applications, customers can accomplish what they need with a single touch of the display screen. This cuts down on the discoverability and usability issues that accompany most phones’ user interfaces today. The device is also very different from the competition in that it has a “WOW” factor in both the industrial design and the way services are brought to life visually. Last, it will be sold very differently from most devices in that it will come with a data plan so customers will just pick the minutes they need. This allows customers to use and experience all the device can do rather than nickel and dime customers as they use various services.