OVERLAND PARK, Kan. & DALLAS, Apr 07, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Sprint (NYSE:S) and Samsung Mobile’s newly unveiled Instinct was awarded “Best in Show” in the third annual Emerging Technology (E-Tech) Award competition during last week’s CTIA Wirelss 2008 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The E-Tech awards honor the best products and innovations in a number of categories representing the wireless ecosystem, including mobile consumer electronics, consumer mobile applications, enterprise solutions, network infrastructure, and 4G.

Instinct was named “First Place” in the Mobile CE - Phones/Smartphone category by a panel of 31 judges who evaluated each entry on innovation, functionality, wow factor, importance of technology and ease of use and implementation. “Best in Show” was then chosen by CTIA WIRELESS 2008 attendees via text messaging during the conference. Nearly 300 submissions were received for this year’s E-Tech Awards.

Instinct was also honored as “Most Innovative Product at CTIA Wireless 2008″ in the Best of CTIA Wireless 2008 competition judged by the Editors of LAPTOP, a leading mobile technology magazine. In selecting award winners, LAPTOP chose innovative products announced at the show that enrich the mobile lifestyle of business users and consumers and improve the way users communicate, work, and stay entertained on the go. More details on this award can be found at: http://blog.laptopmag.com/category/best-of-ctia.

CNET recognized Instinct as the “Best Cell Phone” in its annual Cream of the Crop CTIA 2008 awards. “Not only does it offer a boatload of features, but also it offers a sleek design with a full touchscreen and an attractive and . . . user-friendly interface,” according to the announcement. Sprint and Samsung won this honor together last year with UpStage by Samsung. More details can be found at: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-12261_7-9911644-51.html.