The Sprint Instinct is a touchscreen phone with high-end features that may finally give the iPhone some real competition. The Sprint Instinct is an EV-DO Rev. A handset with integrated GPS and fast access to Sprint TV, together with a virtual QWERTY keypad, 2-megapixel camera with video recording, Bluetooth 2.0 and microSD storage supporting up to 8GB cards. The user interface deserves some attention because it features haptic feedback, single-touch access to favorite functions and a Voice to Action button that triggers voice activation for call, text, picture messaging, traffic, movie, sports, news and search.

The Sprint Instinct is sleek and stylish, measuring roughly 2.17 x 4.57 x 0.49 inches and weighs less than 4.5 ounces. Towards the bottom of the Instinct are three dedicated keys to make operation of the device very straightforward and easy to navigate - phone, back and home. The phone key always takes you back to essential voice calling and features including speed dial, visual voicemail, contacts and the dial pad. The back key is a consistent way to take a step back in the operation.

The information below was gather in a Q&A conference call with Sprint to discuss the Samsung Instinct.

Does the Sprint Instinct sync with Microsoft Outlook?

The Instinct does offer push e-mail, but it uses Outlook Web Access to get to the mail. Unfortunately, Instinct doesn’t sync with calendar.

Can you sync Outlook contacts with the device?

With network address book you can sync from your Outlook contacts. If you have an existing device, you can move the contacts over in the store or Bluetooth them over. The Instinct uses the network address book to store everything on the network and you can sync it with Outlook.

What’s the battery life on the Instinct?

The Instinct comes with a second battery, because Samsung wants people to feel like the phone is always on. Also included in the box are headphones, a carrying case, a stylus, and a 2GB microSD Card. The 1100-mAh battery offer more than 5 hours of talk time.

What kind of touchscreen technology does the Instinct have?

The iPhone use a capacitive touchscreen technology while the Sprint Instinct uses receptive technology. When you press on something, it registers. The Instinct does feature haptic feedback, a faint vibration to indicate you’ve pushed a button. A QWERTY keypad is available in landscape mode, which offers predictive text. You can touch-scroll through pictures and thumbnail galleries.

What is the price of the Sprint Instinct?

Sprint has yet to announce a price for the device but will soon. Owens said the price should be comparable to similar products.

What external applications will the Instinct support? Is it going to be an open platform?

The platform is BREW with Java applications running on the device; “absolutely an open platform,” Owens said. He added that the Instinct SDK will be out soon if it’s not already. Sprint wants people to develop all kinds of apps for it.

How will the Instinct compare with the iPhone?

Sprint says that when comparing the Instinct with the current iPhone, there are advantages to both products. Unlike the first-gen iPhone, the Instinct has GPS, live-search capability, and Rev. A speed. Sprint is also particularly proud of the phone’s UI and customization capabilities.

Instinct GPS: Is it cached or instant?

The Sprint Instinct will cache your most recent locations, but it’s assisted GPS. It uses GPS and the Sprint network to get a fix.

How does the Sprint Instinct fit in with Palm, Android, and Windows Mobile platforms?

The Instinct was built around a Java/BREW environment. Sprint wanted to go this route because it wants to utilize its many existing applications and third-party developers.

“In terms of being open to things like Android and Linux OS, we’ve been at the forefront of that; we’re embracing them. You’ll see products in Q4 ‘08, Q1 ‘09 in those environments, but this made sense for us now,” Owens said.

How advantageous is the Rev. A speed on the Sprint Instinct?

It’s not as fast as a cable modem, but Sprint claims users will see broadband speeds, with high-quality TV streams and most Web pages loading in 12 to 15 seconds.

What are the Instinct’s video capabilities? How can you use the Instinct with FaceBook and other social networking sites?

The Instinct includes a 2-MP camera and a camcorder and there are buttons that allow you to upload photos and video directly to FaceBook and MySpace.

Is the Instinct’s keypad bigger than on iPhone?

It’s different. The biggest difference being - if you’re actually writing an e-mail or an SMS on the iPhone, it’s in portrait mode. The iPhone has a 3.5-inch screen size and the Instinct’s screen is 3.1 inches. When users are e-mailing or SMSing on the Instinct, it’s in landscape mode, and the keys are bigger. Sprint claims that users will make fewer errors because of the size of the keys and the haptic feedback.

How does the Sprint’s Instinct camera feature work in Web browsing?

If you’re in Web browsing mode and want to move around in a page, the camera allows you to pan. If you hold down the camera key and move up or down, the page will move up or down.

How does Sprint respond to criticisms or allegations that this is just another iPhone clone? How does that come into play with the development process?

“I give Apple the credit for the great job they did,” Owens said. “I know you’ll see more touchscreen devices. If you want to improve the user interface, one of the best ways for carriers and manufacturers to do that is to use touchscreen. I think there are people that are going to say they like features of both. Everyone will use it differently, but there’s something in it for everybody.”

How do you transfer music files from your computer to the Sprint Instinct?

You can use media manager software to transfer through your PC, or you can drag-and drop over the USB cable to the Instinct.

Is the music store different than on other Sprint phones?

“Whether it was our TV or music partner, we challenged them to give somebody the best experience with a Rev. A device and a 3-inch screen,” Owens said. “It’s the same application but much easier to use because they were able to do a lot with the touchscreen’s size.”

Can you lock the phone so it doesn’t make calls?

There’s a power lock key. If you go to Settings > Display, you can set the backlight to never dim, or set it to dim in a set time. Once you go dim, you can’t press a key.

What can you add to the Favorites menu? How specific can you get with customization?

Users can add applications but can’t put phone services because of the phone button already on the handset. Users can also add a music playlist, send an e-mail, store Web bookmarks, TV channels, a radio station, and more.