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In less than a month, arguably the coolest cellphone ever will be released – and it's not Apple's 3G iPhone. It's the Sprint Instinct by Samsung, which which will arrive in Sprint stores on June 20 backed by a $100 million marketing campaign.

Instinct features a laundry list of capabilities lacking in the current iPhone – tactile QWERTY keypad and menu vibration feedback (haptics), Sprint's streaming "live" TV, music downloads via Sprint's EV-DO Rev. A broadband network, video recording, stereo Bluetooth, GPS with voice turn-by-turn directions, direct photo upload to Flickr, and voice command for GPS points-of-interest searches, although we don't know what improvements Apple will add to the 3G model that will hit stores at around the same time as the Instinct.

Instinct arguably has more instinctual navigation than the nearly identical iPhone; there are three direct access touch keys below the 3.1-inch touchscreen for the home menu (like the iPhone), a "back" arrow and for the phone dialpad. And also are four "home" screens: a "main" screen that lists everything, a "Web" screen with customizable bookmarks, "Fun" with links to all the Instincts A/V apps, and "Favs" for direct access to all your favorite apps.

Instinct is lacking when compared to the iPhone in one vital area: it has no internal memory. Sprint will pack a 2 GB card with the phone, which will only get you started. In common with iPhone, Instinct is equipped with a 2 MP still camera, music player, a 3.5mm headphone jack, threaded texting and one of iPhone's greatest innovations, visual voice mail.

Instinct likely will sell for between $200-$300 after the usual contract and rebates, then $69.99/month for 450 voice minutes and unlimited data or $99.99/month for unlimited everything.

Labels: cellphones