Samsung Instinct is flirting with the iPhone’s shadow
By Matt Jansen
At this point the Samsung Instinct has sales numbers that are miniscule compared to the Apple iPhone , but the device seems to be making headway with strong sales at Best Buy. In many ways the Samsung Instinct is a knockoff of the iPhone, especially with its touchscreen interface. But it also provides features the iPhone doesn’t, at a lower price.
Sprint Nextel is looking for some attention to bring the Samsung Instinct out from behind the shadow of the iPhone into mainstream buzz. Best Buy seems happy to help because it just announced that the “Samsung Instinct, exclusively from Sprint, [is its] best selling handset in the past two years.”
Not a bad start for a device trying to fit in the same shoes as the iPhone. Of course, some of those sales numbers are certainly inspired by Best Buy’s deeply discounted price of $129 with a 2 year contract.
Sprint’s Samsung Instinct also lifts several feature ideas from the iPhone and improves on them. For example the Instinct records video, streams TV, and allows for horizontal text messaging. And, it’s smaller.
So how do things stack up between the Instinct and the iPhone?
| iPhone | Instinct |
| Permanent battery. | Changeable battery, comes with a spare. |
| $199 with 2 year contract | $129 with 2 year contract |
| 8gb storage included | 2gb storage included |
| $129.99 for unlimited voice and data; $20 extra per month for unlimited texts | $99 per month for all services included |
| Also includes: access to iPhone Application store which may provide applications free or for a charge | Also includes: GPS navigation, 25 streaming TV channels, 50 commercial free streaming radio channels |
Coverage quality differences between Sprint and AT&T are debatable, though AT&T has encountered some difficulties providing fast data speeds for many iPhone owners.
On a side note, Sprint has also done a remarkable job with its InstinctThePhone.com site, which opens with a gargantuan overlay of the Instinct flying over and above you. Videos are available for every feature of the Instinct, mostly with witty jabs at the iPhone. Busy forums there and a fledgling viral marketing campaign through YouTube polish the site off nicely.
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on Thursday, July 10th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
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