Sprint and Samsung teamed up to launch a new cell phone to rival Apple’s iPhone. Samsung Instinct, also known as Samsung SPH M-800 has a large touch screen featuring localized tactile feedback, called haptics, which allow the virtual QWERTY keypad and other operations to become a sensory experience.

Still, its screen measures only 3.1 inches, which means it is smaller than the iPhone’s screen (3.5 inches). Samsung Instinct runs on CDMA EV-DO Rev (800MHz/1900MHz), the fastest cellular broadband technology available on the Sprint and Verizon Wireless networks. It measures 4,57 inches x 2.17 inches x 0,49 inches and it weighs 4.4 ounces and it has features like Visual Voicemail, allowing users to listen to messages in their order of preference and manage them with a simple tap of the screen.

It also provides support for corporate and consumer (POP3) email, multitasking capabilities that allow the user to play music in background mode while surfing the Internet, texting or playing games, a 2.0 megapixel camera with camcorder and expandable microSD memory of up to 8GB.
Additional features include advanced stereo Bluetooth 2.0, integrated world clock, SMS voice and text messaging with threaded text, Phone as Modem, picture caller ID and Sprint Mobile Sync. It supports multimedia formats such as H.264, MPEG4, MP3, AAC, AAC+, MIDI and WMA. It also includes a Global Positioning System chip.

According to Sprint, Samsung Instinct will be shipped with a 2GB microSD card that holds approximately 2,000 songs from Sprint Music Store, two standard 1,000 mAmp batteries offering up to 5.75 hours of continuous talk time each, battery charging sleeve, travel charger, USB cable, 3.5mm headphones with built-in microphone, and leather case with stylus.

Sprint is yet to announce a price for the phone, but according to Reuters, Samsung Instinct would cost around $300. It will require activation on a Sprint Everything pricing plan offering unlimited data starting at just $69.99 per month.