Now that the dust from this year’s CTIA Wireless Expo has settled and a new batch of cell phones sits laid out for the public to admire, it’s become clear that 2008’s expo will be remembered as the year of the iPhone challengers. While many manufacturers have already unveiled iPhone clones in the eight months since it launched in late June, the extra R&D has clearly paid off for last week’s crop of imitators, which may come the closest yet to besting the original.
Of all the touchscreen phones that showed up on the Las Vegas convention center floor this year, none captured headlines and comparisons to the iPhone quite like the Samsung Instinct. The Instinct’s smooth lines clearly conjure up its Apple rival, but its features, including 3G Internet access and GPS, go a step beyond what Steve Jobs and company were able to push out last summer.
One of the main differentiators for the Instinct will be its appearance on the Sprint network, which, up until now, has had the HTC Touch as its closest iPhone rival. Besides giving Sprint customers a more viable alternative to the iPhone, bringing the Instinct to Sprint will allow it access to Sprint’s high-speed EV-DO Rev. A data network, which should best the iPhone’s 2G EDGE network in terms of speed. Sprint claims its standard provides average download speeds of 800 kbps to 1.4 Mbps, while AT&T claims its EDGE network provides between 75 and 135 kbps on average.
Image Courtesy of Samsung
Besides faster data rates, the Instinct has a number of extras that set it apart from the iPhone. For one, it has built-in GPS, which will make it handy as a handheld navigator (especially with the accompanying Internet access), or for spitting out driving instructions in the car. The phone’s touch screen has also been improved with localized haptics technology, allowing the phone to mimic hard controls through vibration. And another first: a voice-to-action button allows users to bypass the touch-screen entirely by speaking directions to their phones, or even entering in search terms.
Physically, the Instinct measures up very close to the iPhone. From its rectangular shape and glossy black finish to its rounded corners and metal edges, the Instinct unabashedly draws its inspiration directly from Apple. There are, however, a handful of differences. The Instinct gets only a 3.1-inch LCD with 240 x 432 pixel resolution, while the iPhone offers a larger 3.4-inch screen, with a more movie-friendly 480 x 320 pixel resolution. The Instinct is also slightly lighter (4.4 ounces to the iPhone’s 4.8) and not quite as wide.
On the software front, Samsung’s developers have largely copied the iPhone’s interface, but they have also offered their own advancements, such as more powerful customization options. Besides “Main,” “Web,” and “Fun” tabs, a “Favorites” tab allows users to access all their most commonly used applications in a single touch. However, as a media player, the Instinct will likely fall well short of the 8GB and 16GB iPhones, offering only a 2GB included microSD card, with the option to upgrade to up to 8GB through a larger card.
Sprint hasn’t yet announced pricing for the Instinct, but most sources speculate it should run no higher than $399. The company has, however, specified that a contract with unlimited data will be required for activation, meaning buyers can count on a monthly bill of at least $69.99. The phone will go on sale in June.
Only time on the streets and thorough testing will reveal whether Samsung has really been able to one-up everyone’s favorite Cupertino innovator, but as far as features go, the Instinct is ready to put up a good fight. More information and photos can be found at Sprint’s official Instinct Web site.
