Turns out the ages old adage that a cutting-edge product plus hype equates to big first day sales, as Sprint today announced that the Friday saw the HTC EVO 4G smash the carriers records for first day handset sales. Not only did it outsell the previous two record holders in the Palm Pre and Samsung Instinct, but in its first 24 hours of availability Sprint sold three times more EVOs than Pres and Instincts in their first 72 hours of availability combined. Of course we wish that Sprint would reveal the actual numbers, but we’ll cut them some slack. They’re in for a pretty tough week.

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This certainly doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but Sprint has finally made the Samsung Instinct HD official this morning. Best Buy first spilled the beans back in August and a steady flow of information has been trickling in ever since. When Sprint mentioned the handset in a newsletter to Premier customers two weeks ago however, it became painfully obvious the Instinct HD would get official soon enough. So feast your eyes, Sprint fans — the 3.2-inch touchscreen touting Instinct HD features a 5 megapixel camera, “HD” video playback via a TV-out port, “HD” video recording, the full Opera Mobile 9.7 browser, Wi-Fi, a proximity sensor, haptic feedback, an Ambient Light Sensor and an accelerometer. The handset will become available on September 27th through Best Buy and then on October 11th through Sprint channels. Pricing is set at $249.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate on a 2-year contract (rebate is instant at Best Buy). Anyone planning to dive right in or will you try to hold off until Sammy’s new Instinct sheds the early adopter tax?

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Ah, the Samsung Instinct HD. We know practically everything about it short of when it is going to launch and how much it will cost. A gaffe from Best Buy last month led us to believe that the Instinct HD would be dropping no later than the 26th however, and now an alleged internal Sprint memo has seemingly confirmed this. Okay, technically the memo says the handset will be launched on the 26th and available on the 27th, but what’s one day, really? Packing a  3.2-inch HVGA touchscreen display, 5 megapixel camera with video capture, Wi-Fi, accelerometer, HD video-out, visual voicemail and a “PC-like web experience”, the Instinct HD is expected to go for between $99 and $149 on contract, meaning it will compliment Sprint’s new Any Mobile, Anytime plan in terms of affordability and features. Hit the jump for the full text from the alleged internal memo.

Short Description of Product:

The Samsung Instinct HD is the premium follow up to the award-winning, record-selling Samsung Instinct. The Samsung Instinct HD is designed for people who want a stylish and cutting edge touchscreen phone with enhanced multimedia features, accelerometer and a 5MP camera with Hi-Res viewing and TV out capability.

Full Description of Product:

The Samsung Instinct® HD is the fastest, most advanced model designed in the Instinct portfolio of Samsung touchscreen phones. The Instinct HD includes an accelerometer that syncs to the user’s movements to create an intuitive experience that engages the senses in an extraordinary way. The Instinct HD is equipped with a 5.0 megapixel camera to deliver razor-sharp clarity for pictures and video. The Instinct HD also possesses WiFi capabilities for fast Web and content access, no matter where the device is being used. With incredible multimedia and browsing performance, the new Instinct HD lets users watch movies, play games, surf the net, check out social networking sites, upload and download content, record and play videos in Hi-Res, and much more — even faster than before. The large 3.2″ HGVA display with accelerometer and improved web browser gives you a great PC-like experience so your favorite sites look and load just like they would at home. It also has WiFi and comes with a 5MP camera with TV out capability, so you enjoy viewing your photos and videos right on your home TV. This fully loaded, premium touch screen takes you to the cutting edge of technology.

Please describe what differentiates your product/service from competing products/services:

• Full Touchscreen with Accelerometer
• Record & Play Videos in Hi-Res
• PC-like Web experience
• WiFi Capable with 3.2″ sharp and clear display
• 5.0MP Camera & Camcorder with TV out

When was product launched? If not currently on the market, when is product launch date?:

9/26/2009

Is the product currently on the market?

No

If no, when will it be available?

9/27/2009

Where can the product be purchased?

Sprint retail stores, Sprint.com, select wireless

What is the product’s price range?

$99-$149

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Thanks, Tom!

Earlier this week, we exclusively scooped the presence of Sprint’s upcoming Instinct HD on Best Buy’s website and the simple fact that it hasn’t been pulled suggests a launch is imminent. For a bit more supporting evidence, someone apparently got a little excited because a handful of live shots hit the Web yesterday, including several device-on shots showing off the UI. Barring the horribly lame clownfish wallpaper we sincerely hope was added by the user and not on the handset by default, we’re seemingly looking at a pretty sexy feature phone here — clearly in the same vein as previous Instinct models. Sleek case, nice big touchscreen display, 5 megapixel camera, HD video-out… It’s definitely a solid offering as long as it launches at a decent price. Hit the jump for some more shots with varying levels of blurriness.

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S50, M850 and Dash be damned, it’s pretty clear now that Samsung has latched onto the “HD” trend for its latest Instinct handset. Spotted by one of our eagle-eyed readers on Best Buy’s website, some of the Instinct HD’s most talked about specs are now confirmed, including the 5 megapixel camera with video capture, HD TV-out, Wi-Fi and visual voicemail. Pricing and availability info aren’t yet listed, but the wording, “Prices effective Sunday, August 23rd – Saturday, September 26th” certainly suggests a launch some time before September 26th. As for other info to be gleaned from the listing, the Instinct HD will be a Best Buy retail exclusive (sorry, The Shack) and an Essential Message & Data plan or an Everything Plan with Data will be required with activation. Hit the jump for an the enlarged pic of the Instinct HD.

UPDATE: We’ve added an exclusive shot of a Best Buy promo sheet after the jump as well.

Thanks, Benny!

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Sprint subscribers might be feeling somewhat slighted thanks to the carrier’s poor showing in this morning’s exclusive, but don’t fret. Thanks to an alleged leaked Sprint document, it looks like the HTC Touch Pro2 and Samsung Dash, or Instinct s50 (official successor to the Instinct), are slated to be released on September 3rd. There’s no shortage of info and pics of the Touch Pro2, which will be available on each of the four major US carriers, but the s50 has yet to be seen — officially or unofficially. Could this be the AMOLED device headed to Sprint that everyone’s been hootin’ and hollerin’ about? Is it possible that the device will also be sporting Android in light of CEO Dan Hesse’s announcement that Sprint is finally ready for the matured OS? We’ll know in less than a month, but we’re guessing (and hoping) that the distinguished honor of being Sprint’s first Android-powered handset is reserved for the HTC Hero.

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While this handset didn’t receive as much fanfare as its predecessor, it’s still a decent upgrade for those who are currently on Sprint. Is it worth switching carriers? Well, that’s entirely up to you but we’re thinking it might be smarter to hold off for, oh we don’t know, the Palm Pre perhaps. If you were a big fan of the original Instinct and your calendar is full of giant red X marks however, today is your day. For $129.99 with a two-year contract and mail-in-rebate, this slim touchscreen phone can be yours. The S30 is much like its older sibling but Samsung has trimmed a lot of the fat and made the UI a little more user friendly. The glitches and bugs that plagued the first Instinct should be ironed out now as well. If you were looking to upgrade, now would be the time — but before you rush out to the Sprint store, you might want to check out Best Buy first if you’re planning to snag one along with an Everything Plan.

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The slightly smaller, sleeker successor to the Samsung Instinct is hitting Sprint retail stores on April 19th and it looks like Best Buy might be besting Sprint’s offer. With a two-year contract and $100 mail-in-rebate, the S30 will be retailing for $129.99 from Sprint but the pictured flyer shows Best Buy dropping $80 from that price. Of course, if you read the fine print it says that you’ll need an Everything Plan with data — something that Sprint retail stores won’t be requiring for its purchase. The way we see it, if you’re planning on grabbing one of these phones next week, you may as well get the Everything Plan and pick up the phone for less. With a device like this, you’re going to want unlimited data and all that jazz anyway.

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We apologize for the delay in getting some sexy CTIA news coming your way but technical difficulties — ie, relying on an AT&T USB modem for connectivity — have been a bit of a road block. No matter… Welcome to AMOLED world, aka Samsung’s CTIA booth this year. As you can see from the giant AMOLED sculpture-thingamajig welcoming visitors to the Samsung booth, Sammy is making it a point to let us know that it means business when it comes to handset displays. And it does, by the way, mean business. Samsung has a handful of handsets on display and the common theme among more current models is a big, bright, gorgeous AMOLED touchscreens. Hit the jump to see some highlights plucked from Samsung’s line up.

First up is the newly announced Samsung A877 aka Impression. This puppy was scooped quite a while ago and then last month we exclusively dropped the price and release date, as the Impression will be part of an upcoming BOGO offer from AT&T. What more do you need to know? You can read the spec sheet all you want but you can’t get a feel for how bright and vibrant the 3.2″ AMOLED display is until you hold it in your hand. No, the Impression isn’t a smartphone but the QWERTY has a great feel, the TouchWiz UI with haptic feedback is as spry as it gets and the 3 megapixel camera will definitely get the job done. For $200 and a BOGO deal no less, the Impression could be a killer for messaging fiends.

The Instinct S30 is another handset we scooped to no end, but many questioned whether or not it would be a worthy sequel to its predecessor. The answer — maybe. Sprint’s upcoming S30 is rock solid and packs plenty of zip but current Instinct owners may be a bit disappointed if they were expecting a big upgrade.

The Beat DJ is definitely a niche handset from our Korean friends and we’ve wondered aloud on several occasions just who would be interested in this little guy. After playing with it a bit, we’re left with the same questions we had going in. The build is phenomenal, the UI is spry, the AMOLED screen is perfection and the speakers are pretty impressive (even in a crowd) but there are at least half a dozen Sammy handsets we would opt for long before the Beat DJ.

Last up for now, we have a little taste of what Samsung has in store for the not-so-distant future. Seen above under lock and key is a hardware sample of an upcoming LTE handset. As you can see, Sammy looks to be maintaining the same styling and form factor found in abundance within its current lineup. Toss in some blazing 4G however, and you’ve got some tasty devices on the horizon. The nice folks at the booth really couldn’t answer any questions about this puppy but it looks like Samsung should be ready to launch this (and other) LTE devices pretty soon — basically, as soon as there is a network to launch them on. Breath = bated.

A sleeker and more compact version of the Samsung Instinct is coming, so grab your camping gear and find your nearest Sprint retailer. Or not. An official picture of the Instinct S30 — or what many thought to be the Instinct Mini, though it looks like that was just an internal name used on some Sprint documents — has slipped out from Samsung so one would have to imagine that it’ll be hitting stores pretty soon. The original Instinct was relatively solid except for the sometimes-troublesome battery door, so we’re hoping this one will be built like a rock. Of course, when the Instinct first arrived its main competitor was the iPhone, but now it will have to contend with the second and then third generation Jesus-phone as well as Sprint’s own Palm Pre. Sprint will have to be aggressive with marketing this handset, but please… No more cheesy “save-the-day” or “find-a-husband” Instinct commercials.

[Via Engadget]

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Well lookie here – a freshly leaked BrightPoint document points to the upcoming launch of the rumored Instinct M810 Mini and a red version of the LG Lotus. The Mini is still listed as being available on April 19th in both graphite and bronze for a pricey SRP of $449.99. The document also reveals the April 19th availability of a red version of the LG Lotus for $299.99 and the similarly priced Sierra AirCard 402. Those interested in the red Lotus however, should note that it will only be available to “preferred retailers” and “exclusives”. Also of note is the continued “out of stock” status of the BlackBerry Curve 8330. The Sprint Curve has been out of stock online for a few weeks with brick and mortar stores reportedly carrying a dwindling stock of the popular handset. From the document, it appears that a refresh of the SKU and a replenishment of the stock is not expected until late March. Hold on a little longer Curve fans, as that could be any day now.

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The Samsung Instinct Mini — now reportedly designated the S30 — has been photographed yet again, this time in a hit or miss copper getup. According to new reports the “Mini” designation may have been tossed, perhaps due to the fact that the phone isn’t really all that mini. Pretty odd though, considering we’ve seen it referred to as the “Instinct Mini” on several Sprint documents. Regardless, the Instinct’s new sidekick will apparently also be available in blue along with copper and graphite, as was revealed back when we scooped the April 19th release date. Hit the jump for a second blurry snapshot.

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Well lookie here, Sprint fans — it appears as though we might have our first live glimpse of the upcoming Instinct Mini from Samsung. Originating on a Sprint forum, no details have been provided just yet as user phonetec dangles the pics in front of forum members, wondering simply, “anyone else seen this ???” The answer of course, is no. It certainly looks a bit more, err, mini than the current Instinct and the rounded edges leave no question that this is indeed a different handset. As far as we know, the Instinct Mini is still slated for release on April 19th so the timing is right for some leaked pics to begin making the rounds. We’ll keep an eye on this one and in the meantime, hit the jump for a couple more shots.

Thanks, REV!

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The good ‘ole FCC just gave a green light to a new Samsung handset that, according to rumor, could cure cases of “The Mondays” across the country — well, for Sprint customers at least. The device, tagged only with a model number for the time being, is rumored to be the Samsung Instinct Mini. Woo! Various sources have made the leap and suggested the SPH-M810 will come to market as the new little brother to Sprint’s Instinct and the timing certainly makes sense. We’ve haven’t heard anything at this point that suggests Sprint has moved its target launch date of April 19th and with the FCC’s blessing out of the way, everything looks to be on track. The only new info about the alleged miniaturized Instinct is that it will reportedly include PTT, which could pose an interesting twist down the road a bit. Either way, Sprint people have quite a few handsets to look forward to over the coming months — anyone excited for the Instinct Mini?

[Via UV]

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