The Samsung Instinct HD has been officially outed as a $250 (after rebate) addition to Sprint's line, with a lean spec sheet that matches up with previous rumors: it has have a 5-megapixel camera with HD video recording and HDMI-out—Samsung's using Microsoft's definition of "HD", evidently—that it runs a proprietary Samsung OS, and that it is, well, an incremental upgrade to the popular-but-underwhelming Samsung Instinct. On top of that we now know it's got a 320x480 screen, Wi-Fi, the fantastic Opera 9.7 browser and GPS—none of which are overly surprising. The release date confirms prior suspicions as well: It's set for September 27th.

It's announced, it looks decent, and it's about what we expected—so what's wrong? For one, it's inexplicably been tagged with a higher price than Sprint's Pre and their Hero, two phones that are objectively more capable that the Instinct HD. And why is Sprint being so cagey about specs? We don't even know how much storage this thing comes with, or what the quality of the HD video is. It's a bizarre way to launch an utterly un-bizarre phone which, mind you, could still be a nice handset. It's just gotten off to an inauspicious start.

UPDATE: Some reprieve! From Best Buy:

Although we are not announcing this in a press release, I thought you might want to let your readers know that Best Buy Mobile will be selling the device for $199.99 with 2-year activation after instant rebates. The smartphone will be available in Best Buy Mobile stores starting tomorrow Sept. 25.

[Sprint]

The Price

The Sonim XP3 is by no means a new phone, either as a product or a piece of technology. For the US, though, it's still semi-fresh: It's just been announced on regional carriers around the country, and as of last week you can pick one up unlocked for about $400 at Best Buy.

The Verdict

As you can see, this thing is a brick. It's a heavy, Tonka-yellow slab of plastic and rubber that sometimes makes calls, sends texts and visits a website or two. In a way it's the ultimate dumbphone: It's not annoyingly dumb—it's actually got a decently attractive UI, and it's worlds easier to use than the not-as-tough Casio G'zOne—and the battery life is conversely related to the phone's feature set, just like it should be. (I've been playing with this thing on and off for more than a week, and I still don't need to charge it.) Also, of course, it's tough, like all my favorite dumb people. It's the anti-iPhone, and not necessarily in a bad way.

When I say tough, I don't mean to say this is a phone for people who go through a lot of handsets, or hate that their Pre's backplate keeps getting scratched—this is in a different league, for a different type of human: Do you work on an oil rig? As a stuntman? Underwater, sometimes? Did you sign a 100-page insurance waiver before starting your current job? Have you ever watched a coworker get crushed to death, along with his phone? No?

Ok, but would you like the option to occasionally cook your phone?

Spaghetti con Tele

Gallery or video, take your pick:

Sonim never claimed this wouldn't kill the phone, and the battery clearly states that it shouldn't be heated past 130 degrees. After a brief speaker fritz that solved itself, though, the XP3 works perfectly.

You can boil it, like pasta, for at least three minutes

It's surprisingly pleasant to use, for what it is

Battery lasts forever

It's not terribly huge, but not thin either

It's fundamentally ridiculous, though necessary for a select group of people

No 3G, or major carriers (yet)

Extremely hard to chew, even harder to pass

Taste Test is our weeklong tribute to the leaps that occur when technology meets cuisine, spanning everything from the historic breakthroughs that made food tastier and safer to the Earl-Grey-friendly replicators we impatiently await in the future.

The first thing you'll notice about Sprint/Samsung's $50 green blue handset is its size—it's adorably small and pebble-like when it's closed. Actually wait, no, the first thing you'll notice is the packaging. Remember all that talk about minimizing cardboard waste, and not including a manual? This is what we got:

To be fair to Samsung, the packaging is apparently recyclable and made with "soy-based" ink, and I'm pretty sure that notebook full of paper was just an ill-advised PR gift, but even so, they didn't exactly go all the way with this. (Thanks to tipster Shiron for inspiration!)

Anyway, minor quibble, back to the phone. This Pre-shaped texter runs a proprietary in-house OS, which, aside from slight input lag, is par for the course for its category—you know, not-so-hot on the browser front, but it gets phone'n'text duties done just fine. and texting comes fast and easy on the rubberized keyboard. An no, no part of this phone feels like it's made from corn, even if it is.

We've been thinking about how to review this thing, and we're not sure. Do we treat it as a feature phone with environmental tendencies, or an exercise in environmentalism with feature phone tendencies? Mark says we should bury it for a few months and see if it biodegrades; I say we should break it down and make cornbread. Any ideas? [Samsung]

But before we jump into the marketing spiel, the phone: Despite chunky-looking contours, the Jalou is surprisingly compact, at about 2.7 inches long, closed. Specs are healthy for a flip-phone, with 3G, a 3.2-megapixel camera, video recording, Bluetooth 2.0, A-GPS, a monochrome external display, MicroSD expansion and a full Google mobile software suite, including a YouTube app. Feature phones tend to blur together on the technology front, so styling and form factor are bigger factors than RAM or processor speed—on this front, the Jalou is bold, but possibly divisive. I like it, at least.

Now can we talk about the pitch? Because it's pretty great.

Sony Ericsson apparently did mounds of research into "art, architecture and furniture trends" while "delving deep into the couture and fashion world," just to make sure that the Jalou FELT THE PULSE—all this according to a designer named Charles. So what did ole' Chuck discover? Lots of things! Like, women hate being fat! And they love mirrors, and makeup! And pseudoscience!

The two inch screen's clever design means that at the touch of a button the screen becomes a mirror, offering a discreet way to make sure you look as good as your mobile phone. It is also the first Sony Ericsson to feature Walk Mate step counter, to help you stay in shape wherever you go. It also has an exclusive fashion interface which automatically updates with zodiac signs and special events throughout the year.

Where's recipe book, because women love to cook, amirite fellas? At any rate, the Jalou, which, being a machine, doesn't actually harbor specific views about gender politics, is coming sometime in Q4, price TBD. [Sony Ericsson]

Take your pick, ruthless capitalist/unpleasant hippie! On the green front, 80% of its building materials are corn-fed and recyclable (the other 20% presumably vaporize baby pandas on contact), it doesn't come with a paper manual, and its recyclable packaging uses soy-based ink. (!) It's also painted green or blue, just in case the phone's "deal" wasn't already clear to you and your friends, and each purchase nets a land conservation charity a few bucks.

On the phone front, this is a slide-out-QWERTY-equipped dumphone, with Sprint's in-house OS and the One Click social-networking-oriented user interface. A 2MP camera, GPS and expandable storage and Bluetooth 2.0 round the specs out. It's nothing spectacular, but this Pre-like phone (wannaPre?) is also just $50 with a two-year contract on Sprint, after a small stack of rebates. Available from August 16th; full press release below. [Sprint]

Sprint Expands Environmental Leadership with New Initiatives and Debut of Eco-Friendly Samsung Reclaim

Available for less than $50, Samsung Reclaim is the most full-featured eco-friendly phone in the U.S.; Purchases of Samsung Reclaim benefit The Nature Conservancy's Adopt an Acre program

Sprint retail stores to feature green products and services section; Sustainable design blueprint announced for future Sprint-owned store builds and refurbishments

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. & DALLAS—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Sprint (NYSE:S) is making it easier than ever for customers to "go green" with new eco-friendly products, services and programs and expanding its commitment as a leader in sustainability. Available on Aug. 16, Sprint and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile), the #1 mobile phone provider in the U.S.1, today announced Samsung Reclaim™ as the first phone in the U.S. constructed from eco-friendly bio-plastic materials. Made from 80 percent recyclable materials, Samsung Reclaim is a feature-rich messaging phone that offers environmentally conscious customers a perfect blend of responsibility without sacrificing the latest in network speeds and must-have features.

Reclaim is the most full-featured QWERTY phone launched by Sprint at less than $50. It will be available on August 16 in all Sprint retail channels, including Best Buy, Radio Shack, Web (www.sprint.com) and telesales (1-800-SPRINT1) for just $49.99 with a two-year service agreement after a $30 instant rebate and a $50 mail-in rebate (taxes and service charges excluded). It will be available at Wal-Mart in early September.

When customers purchase Samsung Reclaim from Sprint, $2 of the proceeds will benefit The Nature Conservancy's Adopt an Acre program, which supports land conservation across the United States and protects some of the world's most beautiful and important natural habitats.

"This generous donation from Sprint will help us protect and restore some of America's most beautiful and ecologically-important landscapes for future generations to enjoy," said Mark Tercek, president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy. "We applaud Sprint's sustainability efforts, as innovation and new technology are crucial to the future of conservation."

Sprint is also launching several new environmental initiatives in an effort to support its aggressive long-term environmental goals:

* Sprint is the first U.S. wireless carrier to establish a set of environmental design criteria for future devices and accessories.
* Sprint is implementing a series of new environmentally-responsible retail initiatives including adding a dedicated display area in stores that highlights Sprint's commitment to eco-friendly products and accessories.
* Sprint is committing to reduce paper usage by 30 percent during the next five years.

"Sprint is widely recognized as a leader among telecommunications companies in environmentally-responsible initiatives, and today we are proud to announce an even stronger commitment to sustainability with new eco-friendly products and programs," said Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO. "Samsung Reclaim enables customers to go green while getting the latest in wireless technology. When customers walk into a Sprint retail store, they will be greeted by the information they need to make earth-friendly wireless choices, coupled with Ready Now to learn about the rich functionality of this device."

DEFINING GREEN WITH SAMSUNG RECLAIM
An eco-friendly overachiever, Samsung Reclaim from Sprint is designed with environmentally-responsible components and fully recyclable packaging, making it the perfect wireless phone for the eco-conscious consumer.

* Its bio-plastic material, made from corn, makes up 40 percent of the Reclaim's outer casing. Samsung Reclaim is free of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), phthalates, and nearly free of brominated flame retardants (BFR): three materials commonly targeted on green electronics guidelines.
* The outer packaging and the phone tray inside the box are made from 70 percent recycled materials. The images and text on the box as well as the phone warranty information are printed with soy-based ink.
* The typical thick paper user manual has been replaced with a virtual manual that users can access at www.sprint.com/reclaimsupport.
* The charger is Energy Star approved for meeting the highest energy efficiency standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. It consumes 12 times less power than the Energy Star standard for standby power consumption and is equipped with a visible notification to alert the user to unplug the handset once it's fully charged.

"Samsung Reclaim is more than just an eco-friendly device, it's also a powerful and stylish phone that's easy-to-use," said Omar Khan, senior vice president of Strategy and Product Management for Samsung Mobile. "When you combine the Reclaim's impressive feature set with its bio-plastic hardware and eco-friendly packaging, you're using a phone that is good for you and the environment."

Operating on America's most dependable 3G network2, Samsung Reclaim boasts One Click, Sprint's award-winning customizable user interface with quick access to such social networks as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube. A new green One Click tile makes its debut on Reclaim providing the gateway to several green applications including:

* Five Simple Steps from Discovery Channel provides five simple changes you can make to be more eco-friendly, from how you commute to what you eat for dinner;
* Green Guides from Discovery Channel offers handy guides to help you green your lives with ease, and understand why;
* Green Glossary from Discovery Channel provides words and explanations about the Earth and Climate Change; and
* All Things Green, a Sprint Web category contains dynamic green headline and links to downloadable content.

Customers don't have to sacrifice the latest in technology to be environmentally-friendly with Reclaim. The stylish, full-featured phone offers:

* a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard making it easy to access personal or corporate email as well as text and multimedia messaging;
* Sprint Navigation with Search, providing easy access to directory information and GPS-enabled directions;
* 2 megapixel camera with 3x digital zoom and camcorder;
* advanced stereo Bluetooth® 2.0;
* expandable memory storage up to 32GB;
* an integrated Web browser; and
* two color options - Earth Green and Ocean Blue.

Sprint currently offers more eco-friendly accessories than any other U.S. telecommunications company. In May, Sprint announced the availability of new eco-friendly accessories, including the SOLIO Mono solar-powered charger and two new cell phone carrying cases made from 100 percent recycled plastic water bottles.

Sprint's green-themed website, www.sprint.com/green, details Sprint's green mobile applications and helps customers learn about Sprint's sustainability initiatives, including online bill pay, wireless recycling programs and acquiring green tips, such as using mobile GPS to calculate the quickest route to save gas. Customers can receive Sprint updates on specific company-wide environmentally-responsible initiatives on Twitter via @SprintGreenNews and can visit www.sprint.com/green for additional green tips.

GREENING SPRINT RETAIL STORES AND PRODUCTS
Beginning in September, all Sprint-owned retail locations will feature a new dedicated environmentally-responsible section that highlights eco-friendly products and accessories such as the SOLIO Solar Charger and carrying cases made from recycled materials. Sprint also will implement a new sustainable design blueprint for all future Sprint-owned retail store builds and refurbishments.

New and refurbished stores will implement numerous sustainable design elements consistent with LEED design standards, and will include energy-efficient lighting, low water usage plumbing fixtures and low VOC paint and carpet. The roll out of these energy efficiency upgrades is expected to reduce the carbon footprint of each store by about 19,000 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalents.

Sprint's Environmental Product Design Criteria Vision Statement applies to all products sold in Sprint channels. Sprint will work with its device and accessory suppliers to design and provide products that:

* Reduce the use of potentially hazardous materials,
* Are energy efficient,
* Include standardized audio and charging interfaces,
* Are more recyclable, and
* Have more sustainable packaging including standardized sizes, reduced weight, increased recyclability rate, and increased recycled content.

Sprint also will work with its suppliers to measure and report on the environmental impact of their manufacturing processes.

The alleged specs aren't much to get excited about, but make no mistake: This will be a popular phone. It's a proud grandson of the line's earliest models—with a slightly touchier front panel and (barely) tweaked styling—which sold about 10 million handsets worldwide, and continue to do well, despite being, well, old. Its beanpole brother can take care of the innovating; lil' 42 can take care of the money. No price or availability yet. [AllAboutPhones via Slashgear]

The S30 does improve on its forebear in a few not-insignificant ways, shipping with the excellent (but free and previously downloadable) Opera Mini browser, an improved touchscreen, a refreshed OS and softer, botoxed styling. At heart, though, it's the same old Instinct, and I don't mean figuratively—the spec sheet is almost identical.

The only way a $130 asking price makes any sense is if its considered solely in the context of Sprint's lineup, which is very, very thin on attractive smartphones and high-end feature phones. Among that sad crowd, the S30 looks pretty good at $130, but against a wider industry backdrop of $100 BlackBerrys and WinMo Smartphones—not to mention some vastly more impressive offerings at the $200 price point—it, and in turn Sprint, looks silly. [Sprint via IntoMobile]

Rather than just stamping two decals on each button like it did with the same-shaped U740, Samsung opted to put some kind of display technology into its keypad. But what? Phonearena optimistically speculates that they keys could be e-ink, but that's and expensive and unlikely possibility. Plus, the folding design makes e-ink's power-saving properties more or less pointless, since they keypad will only be in use when the phone is engaged. Theories?

Badged with the Alias2 carrier name, this little weirdo is coming to Verizon at some point in the near future. [Phoneareana]

Owners of the following phones can grab the J2ME client now:

Nokia 5300, Nokia 6300, Nokia 6500 (classic and slide), Nokia 6555, Nokia 8800 Arte/Carbon Arte, Sony Ericsson G502, Sony Ericsson K660i, Sony Ericsson K850i, Sony Ericsson K858c, Sony Ericsson W890i, Sony Ericsson W908c, Sony Ericsson W910i, and Sony Ericsson Z750i.

And those who are carrying these ten Nokia pieces can contact Qik for an even rougher version of the client to test:

- Nokia 3120 classic
- Nokia 3600 slide
- Nokia 3555
- Nokia 5610 Xpress Music
- Nokia 6600 fold
- Nokia 6600 slide
- Nokia 6212 classic
- Nokia 7373
- Nokia 7390
- Nokia 7900 Prism

[Qik]

Qik Launches First Live Mobile Video Streaming on Mass Market Phones
Support for phones from Nokia and Sony Ericsson brings inaugural live streaming to J2ME handsets, the most ubiquitous application platform for mobile devices

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – October 16, 2008 – Qik, Inc., the live mobile video streaming platform, today announced that it is the first live mobile video product to launch on mass market mobile phones. Available today in alpha, Qik's service is now ready for use on more than a dozen Nokia and Sony Ericsson mass market mobile handsets. With Qik’s free service, users can stream video live to the Internet in just two clicks from their mobile phone. Those watching the videos on the web can engage in live interactive chat with the person broadcasting.

“It's a real milestone for mobile technology that an advanced utility like Qik is now available on mass market cell phones,” said Ramu Sunkara, co-founder and CEO of Qik. “We have been astounded by the use of Qik by smartphone owners, and are excited to see what mass market cell phone users will stream live to the Web.”

Mass market cell phones include non-PDA and non-smartphone handsets which are more accessible to a much broader market of customers. These devices usually carry a lower price point than more advanced phones and have deep penetration in the global mobile market. Qik's software for these handsets is based on the Java Platform, Micro Edition, (commonly referred to as J2ME), the most ubiquitous application platform for mobile devices.

“Nokia is pleased that Qik's innovative live video service is now available for owners of Nokia feature phones as well as Nokia smartphones,” said Tom Libretto, Vice President, Forum Nokia. “Qik's release for these phones adds an exciting new way for people to use an even wider variety of Nokia handsets.”

Qik is initially launching in alpha on the following handsets: Nokia 5300, Nokia 6300, Nokia 6500 (classic and slide), Nokia 6555, Nokia 8800 Arte/Carbon Arte, Sony Ericsson G502, Sony Ericsson K660i, Sony Ericsson K850i, Sony Ericsson K858c, Sony Ericsson W890i, Sony Ericsson W908c, Sony Ericsson W910i, and Sony Ericsson Z750i.

Owners of the above devices can get Qik by registering at http://qik.com/. Support for these devices is expected to enter beta in the coming weeks, and support for additional Nokia and Sony Ericsson feature phones is expected soon after.

The Pope, Senator Barack Obama, Bono, and Steve Jobs are just a few of the notables to be streamed live to the web by Qik users in more than 150 countries. Journalists are using Qik to be more transparent in their reporting, and politicians worldwide are employing Qik as they campaign on a more engaging Web platform. Parents around the planet are easily sharing family events as they happen through Qik on their cell phones. With simple but robust software and a feature-rich site, tens of thousands of Qik users are streaming important moments live to the people with whom they want to share.

Qik, in addition to being the live mobile to web video service of choice for celebrities like Ashton Kutcher, is also delivering exciting footage shot by a wide selection of users across entertainment, business, sports, and technology. Recent Qik videos of note have included behind the scenes footage from Sarah Palin and Joe Biden's vice presidential debate, interviews with comedian Dane Cook, the launch of Apple's new notebook computers, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's speech reacting to the global economic climate.

Despite what we and other media have hinted at, despite what Sprint itself is spending a lot of money trying to convey, the Samsung Instinct is not an iPhone killer. To be sure, Samsung and Sprint borrowed liberally from the iPhone playbook when it came to look and feel. But the comparison itself isn't fair: The iPhone is a software platform that is growing every day, soon to have a host of applications that put it squarely in the smartphone category along with BlackBerry, Palm and Windows Mobile. The Samsung Instinct will never be mistaken for a smartphone. Then what is it? It's the best carrier-centric feature phone I've ever seen, a delight to use for many—though not all—of its intended purposes.

Due to business decisions Apple and the US carriers have made, most Americans are still not faced with the choice to buy an iPhone or not. They have to pick the best "feature phone" that their carrier has to offer. That is, a phone that costs somewhere between $50 and $250, built first and foremost to make voice calls, then serve additional social purposes—messaging, photos, etc.—and, finally, offer data connectivity to the web but more importantly to e-mail.

In this array of duties, there are some where the Samsung Instinct falls flat on its kiester, but there are an unusual number of ways in which this phone makes life easier. I'll start with them, then get to the grimmer stuff:

Snappy Interface: Other touchscreen phones we've seen have annoying split-second lags. The Instinct, for the most part, does not. Some of its visuals were obviously borrowed from Apple, such as pop-up option screens, lists of settings, etc., but at the same time it has features that are original, albeit inspired by Cupertino: When a call comes in, you tap the center then slide up to accept or slide down to ignore. Hanging up is a slide from left to right. (The phone interface has other cool features, too, like "personal" call history for each of your contacts—so don't go cheatin'—and the ballyhooed visual voicemail, which unfortunately wasn't available to test at this time.) The UI only got stuck a couple of times, and never permanently. As with any other "natural" interface, it takes a few minutes to figure out the physics of the system, but once you do, it's intuitive.

Favorites: The Home button actually takes you to one of three panels, Favorites, Main and Fun. When you get the phone, the Favorites pane is blank, but you can add all kinds of stuff. As you can see up top, I've added Weather, E-mail, Alarm, Camera, Navigation and Settings, but it can get so specific, you can have a Favorites button for sending text messages to Brian Lam, cuing up your "I'm So Sad" emo song playlist, or launching Gizmodo.com. This sounds retardedly obvious, but I can't think of a carrier phone that lets you do it. Certainly not the Voyager, the Glyde, the Venus, the Rumor or any other Verizon or Sprint phone that comes to mind.

E-Mail: Feature phones most typically have bad e-mail programs, some of them hidden away where you can barely find them. The message? Do Not Use! But on the Instinct, the e-mail program is really easy to setup, with all the major webmail providers preconfigured for instant log-ins. You can put in more than one account, naturally, and easily jump from one to the next. The mail's vertically oriented view is great, with header frozen in place at the top of the screen and the message itself scrolling along with an iPhone-like flick of finger. And you are alerted to new e-mails with a blue star on the top of the phone's screen.

Web Apps: I'll get to the web browser down below (yes, in the "grim" section), but first I want to sing praises for the numerous web apps on the phone. Weather, News, Sports—your typical need-in-a-hurry information—have been organized in an attractive way that delivers maximum info with the least effort on your part. Sports in particular is amazing (and I'm not known for being a sports fan): You tap one of your pre-selected teams to see a schedule. Any game in progress will immediately show a score. Tap it and you get stats and a write-up from AP or another wire, plus other data breakdowns as necessary. Photo Viewer: Another feature with some iPhone-like traits, the photo viewer lets you finger through your images in either a grid of shots or a Cover Flow-like stream of them. Videos you shoot are in there, too. You can add photos from your computer by copying them to existing folders or, better still, creating your own folders. This means you can have a nice organized gallery of pics, separated out how you want. You don't just have to settle with looking at shots from the passable but by no means award-winning built-in 2-megapixel cam. (There's an auto upload feature too, but it has PhotoBucket and MySpace but not Flickr, Picasa or Facebook, so I'm going to ask Sprint the deal with that.)GPS Navigation: Usually, I'm down on cellphone turn-by-turn GPS navigation, but Telenav has finally gotten it right, ahead of everyone. AT&T and Sprint both use it, but this is the first time I've really been happy with it, even in areas of questionable phone coverage. It's still an iffy proposition if you're in the middle of nowhere, but it works better than any I've seen, and looks far better than Verizon's sorry also-ran, VZ Navigator. (Hint to Verizon: Ditch your white-label software provider and pay a few more bucks for Telenav.) My only complaint is that the live map itself isn't oriented horizontally, like portable GPS products are.Voice Command: This is something that the iPhone lacks, and that's a shame. I have been a fan of voice command for years, especially the stuff built by VoiceSignal (now part of Nuance, the Dragon NaturallySpeaking people). The better Samsung and Motorola phones use it, so it's no surprise to find it here, but the good news is, it works. Not only can you dial people quickly, but you can pull up a text message or picture mail ("Send picture to... Dad"). Though you still have to tap the screen a few times after you've got your message cued up, the voice command eliminates a lot of menu digging.

There are a few features that work well in most instances, but have weaknesses that shouldn't be overlooked:Touch Typing: The typing feature looks a lot like the iPhone's, only it doesn't have the pop-up letters, and doesn't let you shift letters on the fly or auto-correct. However, for some reason, when I've typed on it quickly, everything has looked good. It's like the iPhone in that sense: When you just plunge ahead, results are better. In most scenarios, you can choose whether to type horizontally with QWERTY config or vertically with letters in alphabetical order. In some cases you can even get a third option: graffiti. Yep, like the Palms of yore, the Instinct lets you scrawl in characters one at a time. I can't imagine why you would, and frankly this implementation isn't very good, but it's fun to know what's hidden beneath the surface here.

Music Player: By the look of the thing, it should be fine. It's got all the typical categories, and unlike some Sprint and Verizon phones, it was clearly designed to support your own files as well as purchases from the carrier music store (if anyone was dumb enough to buy music that way). It's a decent player, but it has a potentially fatal flaw: It can't read all MP3 tags, only most of them. That means your "All Songs" lineup will have tracks by artists you can't see under "Artists." The saddest part is that you can't fix it with any hocus pocus either on the phone or on your computer.

Video Player: At the top of the TV/Video menu, there's a "My Videos" option, where you can see stuff you've recorded or sideloaded. I dumped in four different kinds of videos, and while my .avi, .mov, and .mpg failed, the one that worked was a .mp4. It was a Postal Service video, and it looked really good. The file type gave me hope that my vast iPod/iPhone-friendly video library would also be supported, but though the files show up in the queue, they do not play. That means a buttload of time consuming file conversion for yet another device... yippee!

The semi-bungles above can be tolerated, either by working with them or just totally ignoring them. But the Instinct gets one big ole check-minus in particular:

Web Browser: I gotta say it: The Instinct's browser is an ABYSMAL failure of design. It's not that I'm surprised. Nobody has pulled off the mobile browser quite like Apple has. But for some reason, despite Sprint's EV-DO Rev. A network, the browser is slow slow slow, too slow to do much of anything. Beyond that, the interface is streamlined almost to the point of unusability. I can't figure out a way to add a current page to favorites, and zooming in and out requires a tap of a button, that increases or decreases the page—again, very slowly—to an arbitrary size. As you can see in the gallery below, it's junk, and I don't see myself using it. There are some other issues that I had with the phone: I turned off the vibration feedback, since it seemed out of sync with the visuals and was frankly just annoying. As you probably guessed, you still can't make your own songs into ringtones, and you can't even turn Sprint's Music Store songs into ringtones either (full 3MB song download for $1.99 vs. 500KB partial song download for $2.50—you do the math). The ringtone-getting process was a bitch, partly because it's based on that slow-ass browser. I mentioned the camera wasn't award-winning, and I will stress that again, though in video mode, it seemed to do the trick in most well-lit cases.

The last thing I want to mention is that the phone has an all-you-can-eat service price of $99 per month that includes EVERYTHING. That is to say, everything but song downloads and some very peripheral video-on-demand options. Most streaming vid and music is included, all data for e-mail, all messaging including video mail, unlimited use of the GPS navigation, plus unlimited talk time. I believe that's a pretty good price when you consider all of the features. The key with a plan like that is to have a phone where those features can be used. That's what the Samsung Instinct is, to me—the best feature phone option for people who don't mind playing in Sprint's walled garden of services, but don't want to feel like a chump. I've been playing with it nonstop for days now, and it continues to impress me. And while I'm no iPhone fanboy, I'm not easily impressed. Now, if only Verizon would get something this nice...