Not so basic Instinct

Ok, got a brief chance to touch on the new Samsung SPH-800, otherwise known as the Instinct. Overall the phone is fantastic. The touch screens sensitivity is somewhere between the iPhone and the HTC Touch. However the phone features Heptic feedback which allows you to actually feel when you touch a virtual key by a slight vibe. The phone switches orientation when entering text. This allows for a much more spacious typing experience over the previously mentioned devices. Other nice features include: Textual voice mail, voice interaction allowing navigation and operation with your voice, GPS navigation, Sprint TV and blazing fast EVDO-RevA connection. The unit uses the fast internet connection, allong with a decent browser, to allows .flv videos in some sites such as YouTube mobile. The instinct can be navigated via your fingers or the included stylus. The instinct email application supports pop3, and unlike the iPhone, easy access to MS Exchange corporate email. Setting up a pop account was very easy and the large graphics make the process seem friendlier to those less tech savvy. One thing that is easy to overlook, but is an important feature: Changeable battery. If the Batt goes bad, change it, not the entire phone. What a concept. One more really cool feature: while web browsing, if you hold down the camera button on the side of the phone, and tilt the phone, the web browser changes the angle of view and even the content around as you move the phone. It gives a "navigate by Wii" feel. really cool.

Ok, here was the main disappointing topic: Office Doc support. I sent an email with MS Word, Excel, Power Point and a PDF to the phone. The email showed the attachment but when attempting to open the Excel received an error that appropriate viewers where not installed. I sincerely hope this is a condition that will be either included in the production model (since I was using a pre-launch demo) or that plug ins for this option will be shortly available.

Overall, my opinion is, the phone is great for most moderate to psuedo-techie people. It is very sexy and is definitely a head turner. I would certainly say it is an upgrade from the iPhone in most areas. If you want serious corporate email with document view and even edit; and also plan on doing a tone of typing, I would still recommend a BlackBerry. And that's my 2 Cents on the Instinct.