Sprint Nextel sets June 20 as release date for Instinct: Carrier’s flagship phone may run up against 3G iPhone hype

Sprint Nextel Corp. plans to begin selling its touchscreen Instinct phone through its retail outlets on June 20, a date that may put the device on store shelves at almost the exact same time as Apple Inc.’s second-generation iPhone.
Speculation is that Apple intends to take the wraps off its 3G iPhone at the company’s developer conference June 9, and that it will be commercially available shortly thereafter. Apple has remained mum on the topic, but the presumed sequence of events fits the company’s modus operandi.
If the 3G iPhone does hit the street in the middle of next month, Sprint Nextel could face challenges in generating attention for a touchscreen device it describes as a flagship product – and if the launch of the iPhone last year is any indication, publicity surrounding the updated version could be intense and sustained.
Sprint Nextel has placed a significant amount of hope in the Instinct – which features 3G connections, GPS support, visual voicemail and a touch-based user interface designed in part by Sprint Nextel – to quell its flagging fortunes. The carrier continues to lose subscribers and leak cash.
Interestingly, the Instinct is but one of a number of iPhone-style devices to hit the industry in recent months; Verizon Wireless currently sells the Voyager and Glyde, while AT&T Mobility offers the LG Vu as well as the iPhone.