Today at CTIA, I got to spend a few minutes with the new Samsung Instinct smart phone, which is coming soon to the Sprint Network.
Enabled for Sprint’s EvDO Rev A. data network, the Instinct is Samsung’s attempt at the iPhone form factor including the full touch-screen capability (for navigation and virtual keyboard). Samsung has added haptic feedback to the functionality, so the device offers some tactile feedback to the user when an action is triggered via the touch-screen.
“What’s that grinding?” was my not-too-tactful question when I first felt the device quiver in my hands.
Personally, I’ve never really thought that forced feedback was going to improve my interactions with a touch-screen. It’s not like it will tell me adequately whether I’ve typed the letter “a” or fat-fingered an “s” instead, which tends to be the kind of problem I have with virtual keyboards. (I never liked forced-feedback on joysticks either, but that is another story.) Instead, I just sit there, device vibrating in my hand, thinking about how much battery power is getting wasted.
On the other hand, I think I will really like the customizability of the Instinct. The Instinct has three physical buttons near the bottom of the device–Home, Phone and Back. The Home button can toggle between a few different menus–Favorites, Main, Web and Fun–and the Favorites menu is user customizable, so I could easily configure it with the applications I use most. Pretty slick.
Some stats and features on the Instinct:
– 2.17 x 4.57 x 0.49 inches
– 4.4 ounces
– 3.1 inch TFT (240 x 432 pixels)
– rated for 5.75 hours of talk time
– GPS (Telenav)
– 2.0 MP camera
– MicroSD slot (up to 8GB supported)
– Advanced Stereo Bluetooth
Sprint expects the Instinct will be available in June, but pricing is not yet available.