Sprint takes aim at the iPhone

Sprint takes aim at the iPhone

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Published on: 08 May 2008 by PhoneArena Team

Sprint takes aim at the iPhone

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Looks like Sprint's $150 million Instinct marketing campaign is going straight for the jugular. First was Sprint's promotional site, nowisgood.com, and its passive-aggressive swipes at the iPhone. Among other features, Sprint touts the Instinct as able to "shoot and send video" and as having "fast internet" on a "network built to let 'er rip." For its part, Samsung also has a promo site up (samsunginstinct.com), which takes more subtle shots at the iPhone, bragging about the Instinct's stereo Bluetooth and removable battery.

Now comes the first advertisement for it (seen here), which puts the Instinct directly head-to-head with the little phone from Cupertino. The ad lets users "watch the Instinct smack the iPhone around" by comparing GPS side by side. The Instinct's true GPS shows Sprint Navigation pinpointing the user's exact location, while the iPhone is stuck with a general approximation from Google Maps.

Let's face it, the iPhone has some beautiful software and gorgeous hardware, but there are also some serious shortcomings. The web address indicates that the video is found in the /#Side_by_Side directory, so we can probably look forward to more of these ads in the near future.

UPDATE: Other commercials are now up and show the Instinct's ability to watch live TV, download music anywhere OTA, shoot video and connect to the internet at Rev A speeds. See them all at nowisgood.com.

Samsung Instinct Specifications | Hands-On

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1.
>LOL< :D Sprint gets core-ish!
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35.
yay, something worse than the Iphone...a device that works on a crappy network about to go bankrupt!
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Reply to Simdes Hide 1 replies to this comment
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2.
hahah i love the commerical
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3.
Best line "Somewhere in this ginormous circle"! LMAO!
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4.
Interesting phone,, I would love t a lot more if it came with a Keyboard,, but from what I been
reading, it will overall be a better phone in comparison to the iPhone..
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5.
iphone sucks you have to send pic messages to an email. and cant send video messages
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12.
The iphone does not suck its the best phone ever!!! and the iphone is on the best wireless network that gets you bars in more places unlike verizon and sprint!!!
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13.
hahaha ummm yea. more bars in more places....please. someone got brainwashed
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #12 ( Show )
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16.
Have you ever looked at the small print on the ATT commercials? "more coverage in more places".... based on global coverage in tiny print..... In the USA ATT doesnt have the "most bars" It is agrueable but i would say based on the coverage maps, especially in the western states, Verizon has the best coverage. That being said when it comes to heavly populated areas it isnt that drastic of a difference between any carrier.
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17.
i dont know how it is in your city, but here in jacksonville fl (1million++ peeps), verizon is the only one with blanket coverage. sprint and att both have major dead zones within city limits witch is unacceptable.
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #16 ( Show )
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19.
well even the Instinc ad for wireless music downloads showed ATT getting more bars than it...

Hopefully when the iPhone with 3G comes out this summer, it comes with real 3G and MMS capabilities
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #13 ( Show )
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23.
Where I lived in Detroit 2 years ago was a dead zone for Verizon (not all of detroit just where I lived). On top of that I had a really rude and inept customer service person argue with me after I decided to go back to att after two days. Anyway, the moral of the story is detroit ssucks... also that every provider has their gaps and weaknesses...
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25.
Yea but who gives a crap about Jacksonvill Fl, that place is a dump
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #17 ( Show )
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26.
Actually Verizon and AT&T have the same coverage in Jacksonville Fl if you look at AT&T and verizons coverage’s maps.
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #17 ( Show )
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28.
Well first off with the bar arguement. GSM companies like AT&T require more bars to make a call Where as CDMA companies like SPRINT can make a clear call on just one bar. SO the more bars arguement is null in void. Second off 3g network still isnt even close to comparison of Sprints Rev.a Rev.1 1xEV DO network. So even at 3g speed the iPhone will still only connect at slightly faster than dial up speed where as the Instinct Will connect at close to cable speeds. And the only reason there are gaps in networks is because only certain air space is up for auction every year so what is true now could be alot different in about 2 years.
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #26 ( Show )
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29.
i had sprint and verizon and i could not make a clear call on just one or two bars.
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #28 ( Show )
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30.
I'd say you had a bad handset. That happens with all carriers. Comment 28 is correct. A CDMA phone can make a perfectly clear call on even zero bars. If Sprint and VZ phones don't have a strong enough signal to make a call they won't lock onto to their own network and will lock onto another network to roam, which if it's a GSM or analog network will be noticeably inferior quality. Most Sprint plans include roaming so network dead spots are not a worry.
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #29 ( Show )
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36.
I don't know what everybody is trippng about when it comes to the Sprint network. I have been a small business owner since 2000 and have had business accounts with Verizon, T-Mobile, Cingular (AT&T), Nextel and now Sprint. In my area, Portland Oregon, Sprint has better coverage than any of the above. The only carrier that gives similiar reception is AT&T. But when it was Cingular, their customer service was the absolute worst I have ever had. I am completely happy with Sprint's coverage and customer service. They have had a few bumps with the Nextel acquisition in terms of customer service but all seems to be fine now. I hope Sprint can pull it together and get rid of the dead weight with Nextel pulling them down.

I honestly only drop about one call every 6 months or so. Their coverage rocks. I have a Blackberry 8830 with them and it's awesome. I just ordered an 8330 Curve from them. Who else offers an "Unlimited all you can use" calling plan for $99.99 per month even with Blackberry service? I know that different markets have different coverage issues depending on the area, but where I am it's great.
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Reply to lb55 Hide 12 replies to this comment
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6.
im thinkin about getting this phone
1. when in june will it arrive?
2. how much will it cost full retail? (w/o rebate and 2yr contract signing)
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31.
Should be June 20. Don't know the price.
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Reply to steph Hide 1 replies to this comment
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7.
Now this is a really cool phone. Too bad it's on Sprint's network, but then again .... I wonder.
Will this work on their Extended network just as well as it would work on their PCS network?
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8.
This phone ROCKS!
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9.
Did you notice in the face off for video capabilites the sprint guy uses his middle finger to hold the #1 sign! to funny
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10.
that phone is awesome but i dont like sprint
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11.
Cool phone, but it is ugly and on Sprint. And the iPhone is its own unique phone. It is awsome to use. I hink it is hard to cmpare these phones to the iPhone...its in its own league.
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14.
to small of screen.....wrong service....bad ui....this is not the iphone competition....the onyl competition the iphone will ever have is if windows redoes its mobile intersurface completely and do it like vista....and then take a model like the diamond and up the screen size
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15.
These are awesome!
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18.
the iphone is looks thats it. its got beautiful designs everywhere but once you get past looks and get into features its falls very short.there are plenty of phones that arent smartphones that have the same and more features than the iphone. The iphone is doing so well because of apple fanboys. nobody else has fanboys as fanatical as apple.
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20.
Having fanboys for a company does show that the company is doing something right...

whens the last time Samsung had fanboys?
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Reply to Baxter Hide 1 replies to this comment
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21.
Sprint's voice network is as good as or better than AT&T and Vz plus Sprint has the best data network, no question. Don't you iPhone panderers want to use it for Data? Oh yeah, I forgot, you'd have to shell out another $40 per month on the AT&T ntwk. BTW have you heard? AT&T is planning to launch 3G. Wow, only 5 years behind Sprint and VZ.
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22.
Not only does Sprint have the best Data Network, they are already starting their 4G network-WiMax
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24.
Sprints last attempt to look cool before they finally die out!



I love it
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27.
Those commercials are sooooo fricking funny!
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32.
The htc touch diamond looks wayyyy better than the instinct.
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34.
Wow, ballsy. Gotta admit, they make a few good points -- not everybody feels like dropping $400 one a phone with sub-par 3G.
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  Total: 35 posts
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