Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Sprint’s popular, new smartphone, the Samsung Instinct, is going to be sold for the first time at RadioShack coming this Labor Day Weekend. You might be thinking, what’s so special about RadioShack selling the Samsung Instinct, I could go buy it at any other retailer or the Sprint store. Well, the reason is that RadioShack will be selling the Instinct for the low price of $100 for new customers.

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We have recently seen a firmware update come for the Instinct that offered some notable improvements for items such as increasing the audio volume when using Bluetooth, as well as improvements to the signal and battery indicators and the web browser.

With that update having been rolled out, it seems Sprint decided it was time to begin rolling out some individual updates for applications.

These new updates will not be coming all as one big package but instead on a case by case basis, so expect to be prompted to download and install an update when launching apps in the short term future. The updates are going to include Picture Mail, the web browser, Sprint TV and Radio, Sprint Navigation, Sprint Email, Sprint Music Store, Visual Voicemail and Mobile Sync.

Read [InstinctInsight] Via [Mobile Burn]

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The Samsung Instinct has just been given what sounds like will be a welcomed firmware update, which is reported to include updates for some of the apps as well as the base code.

Some of the updates include an increased audio volume when using Bluetooth, the ability to use saved images as wallpaper and improvements to the signal and battery indicators as well as the web browser. Also mentioned was the ability to now set recurring appointments in the calendar.

Current Instinct owners can grab the update directly from their handset by heading to Menu -> Settings -> General and then choosing Update Phone. In addition to this update, Samsung is also rumored to have a much bigger update coming later this year.

Via [IntoMobile]

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With a lot of the hype currently surrounding the impending release of the iPhone 3G its almost easy to forget that there are other nice touchscreen phones already on the market. One of which is the Samsung Instinct, that was recently released with Sprint.

This latest press announcement may serve more a reminder to everyone that the Instinct is available, but I suppose it does also deserve some recognition. Best Buy has just announced that the Instinct has become their best selling phone for the past two years. According to Best Buy;

“The sleek, highly touted Sprint multimedia phone produced record sales in its first two weeks at Best Buy, which has seen its sales of higher-end, multimedia phone increase 10x in the past year since Best Buy Mobile began its national roll out.“

The Instinct, which retails for $129.99 with a two-year agreement originally went on sale on June 19. Best Buy is also Sprint’s exclusive retail partner for the Instinct through August 28.

Read [Best Buy]

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Last night I had the occasion to play around with the new crop of phones put out by the industry’s big players.  It always surprises me how quickly a phone can feel great or not so great in your hand vs staring at it on the screen.  I was shocked at how quickly I hated one of these supposedly sexy models and how much I liked one I really didn’t think I would.  Here is the run down:

HTC Touch Diamond. One word: HOT!  This little phone is very sexy and after I figured out how to turn the bugger on, it was off to the races.  The skin over the Windows Mobile OS is the best yet in terms of speed and functionality.  I’ve played with a few of these skins and this one is rather remarkable.  The screen is very responsive, and it’s tempered glass feels very high end.  It even has a tilt game with feedback as your little ball hits the obstacles.  Overall, I was very impressed with this diminutive phone and could easily see owning this one. 

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As if the $199.99 price tag on the Samsung Instinct was not enough to put up a good fight against Apple’s iPhone 3G, Sprint decided to lower down the phone’s price tag to $129.99. Unfortunately, that cheap price tag comes with several packages which would explain why can afford to offer the Instinct at such a lower price.

So starting June 20, Sprint users can have their own Samsung Instinct just by paying $129.99 and signing a two-year service agreement with Sprint. To avail of this offer, Sprint customers will have to have their Samsung Instinct activated on an unlimited data pricing plan. Customers would have the option to get Sprint’s Everything plan for individual by agreeing to pay $69.99 monthly. This plan would give them 450 voice minutes. Aside from this plan, Sprint customers can also opt for the Talk/Message/Data Share plans for their families by agreeing to pay $129.99 monthly. This plan gives them 1500 voice minutes which can be shared between two lines. Likewise, Sprint customer may also opt to get the Simply Everything Plan which is part of Sprint’s premium services. In exchange for features such as GPS navigation, email, we surfing, Sprint Music Premier and Sprint TV Premier, customers must agree to pay $99 per month.

With this new price tag, it looks like Apple is certainly going to go up against a very tough competitor. But we don’t see Apple lowering its iPhone 3G price just to match up with the Instinct’s price. Come June 20, we expect mobile phone -savvy customers to flock into Sprint’s retail outlets to take advantage of this new price tag of the Samsung Instinct.

Read [Sprint News Release]

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Apple had better watch its back as it seems Sprint is really determined to battle it out. In a bid to compete with the iPhone 3G, Sprint has just announced that it will be making the Samsung Instinct available for $199.99 along with a contract and after rebates. That’s the same price that AT&T is offering the iPhone 3G to its customers.

Sprint had originally announced that the full retail price of the Instinct would be around $449.99. However, Sprint modified its Instinct package a bit by offering a $150 instant rebate under a new two-year contract. To lower the retail price further, Sprint will also be deducting a $100 mail-in rebate for the mobile phone. That sums up the rebates to around $250. Deducting it from the announced market price of the instinct would total to a $199.99 introductory price for the phone.

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I am doing a bit of head scratching this morning.  CTIA has come and gone, as has CeBit and 3G.  In this post, I’ll go over the 3 phones that are hot on the tail of the iPhone.  But can any of them compare?

First, I think it is essential to boil down the obvious: the iPhone hype is about 3 things.
1. OS.  Fun.  Simple.  Easy.  We like pushing things around with our fingers.
2. Internet.  We do so much online, it is natural to do that everywhere.  The big screen is a huge plus.
3. Sexy.  What makes sexy?  Not sure but Apple has it right now.

Knowing I am but a tech blogger and thus an idiot, let’s see how the phone makers have assessed the competition and how they plan to beat it.

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