The iPhone is not alone on the market, and it would better watch out, as competition takes big steps towards making the best alternatives to Apple’s creation. Sprint and Samsung are the best example, as they unveiled Samsung SPH M-800, which will probably be better known by its ‘stage’ name - Samsung Instinct. Earlier in the week, the two companies unveiled the future availability of a new wireless device that will combine full touch-screen functionality with fast speeds available on Sprint’s EV-DO Rev A Mobile Broadband Network.

The new creation from Samsung and Sprint shapes up in the form of a “revolutionary device (that) speeds up the user experience like no other touch-screen phone and brings the customer’s most-used applications and contacts with a single singer tap,” as its developers described it. Samsung Instinct offers a 3.1” TFT display (240 x 432 pixels and 262,000 colors) and comes with a standard lithium-ion battery that supports up to 5.75 hours of continuous talk time.

The advantages or disadvantages compared to the iPhone…well, we will only know for sure when it becomes available. On a first look, the screen is not as wide (3.1 inches, compared to the iPhone’s 3.5 inches), but the size and weight are similar to those of the rival iPhone: 4.57 inches x 2.17 inches compared to the iPhone’s 4.5 inches x 2.4 inches. In terms of weight, Samsung Instinct is a bit lighter, with 4.4 ounces compared to iPhone’s 4.8 ounces.

In terms of personalization and entertainment, Samsung Instinct has a customizable Favorites menu, background music capabilities, which enables users to listen to music while they’re using other applications (text messaging, playing games), Spring Radio, with over 150 channels, Sprint Music Store (that offers wireless downloads for 99 cents a song) and Spring TV (live and on-demand programming, including Sprint Exclusive Entertainment).

“Instinct brings customers what they want with the immediacy they want. Every decision during the development process focused on simplifying the user experience,” said John Garcia, Senior Vice President of Product Development and Chief Marketing Officer for Sprint. “The end result is a great-looking phone that makes the value of Sprint’s fast NOW Network come to life, but most importantly, it is fun and easy to use.”

Since it came out in June 2007, Apple’s multimedia mobile phone became the ultimate model in terms of innovation and possibilities. In a couple of months, Apple is expected to revive sales by introducing a long awaited 3G feature. Does Samsung have what it takes to make the iPhone just another phone? By the way things stand, Samsung Instinct looks nothing but promising, we’ll just have to wait and see how 'killer' its instinct really is.