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Sasktel introduced and heavily marketed the Samsung Instinct over the last several months.  You get a touch screen, video playback, MP3 playback, full web-browser and more!  With the only catch being that Sasktel limits you on a couple of items:

 1. Software on the phone is 2 years old: there is new firmware from Samsung that is released every few months to improve capabilities, browser functionality, application support, etc. Sadly Sasktel does not seem to understand that smart phones need software updates from the manufacturer in order for them to be truly useful.  This limit means the web-browser does not render many pages correctly, and personal video files loaded onto the phone will not play.  Further you cannot install programs like Opera (good web-browser) because these programs require the new software on the phone.  Sasktel needs to get on the ball, talk to Samsung and get the new firmware pushed through the network to the users of these phones.  We pay for the phone due to the features promised, why don't they deliver?  I will be calling Sasktel to lodge a complaint about this and I suggest other Samsung Instinct users do the same. 1-800-Sasktel

2. How do I put my songs/videos/pictures onto the phone?  Well if you are on the Sasktel network they expect you to purchase all your music directly on the phone through their online store.  Sure you have already bought the CD but now that you want to listen to that song on the go they require that you visit the MP3 store on the phone and purchase tracks.  Waste of money, and a complete rip-off.  The phone is designed to play my music, how do I get my songs onto it?   

Well point number 2 is the purpose for this posting.  There is a simple method to uploading your music to your phone; you just need to use Sprint software.  Sasktel provides a data link cable in the box with the phone.  I have no idea what Sasktel expects you to use this cable for since they do not provide or support drivers for the phone.  I asked and was grilled about what kind of data I wanted to put on the phone.  Who cares!  It is my phone and I want to use it!

Here is how it is done:

 Adding Music/Videos/Photos

(Videos do not work as Sasktel needs to update the phone)

1. Go to: http://www.nextel.com/en/software_downloads/phones/samsung_instinct.shtml

2. Click on "More Details" then "Download"

3. After the download has finished double click the file to install the software, follow the prompts and reboot your computer when it finishes

4. Plug the USB cable from our phone to the computer and let the computer install the drivers. These drivers are not for data transfer mode; rather they seem to be for using the phone as some sort of modem.  To load data, on your phone click "Home", "Settings", "General", and slide the connect to PC to "ON"

5. The computer will install another driver. When it finishes open "Sprint Media Manager" (should be on desktop)

6. Follow the instructions to setup the program and then add your music/photos/videos to the software (it will search and do this automatically).

7. To put music on the phone just select a song and drag it to the right side of the screen. Once you have your music ready click on "Transfer to phone" in the top right and then wait for it to finish. Close the program and then visit "Fun" and then "Music Player" and the songs will be available to play.

8. The same goes for photos and video.  However for these files Sprint Media Manager will convert the files to better function on the phone and in the case of video files, this is a long process.  However once finished all files will be loaded properly onto the phone.

Sasktel dropped the ball with this phone and they really need to step up and give us a reason to use their services. We should not have to rely upon Sprint to enable us to use the phone as it was intended, however I must say thank-you to Sprint for properly supporting the phone and doing a great job.  If only Sasktel had competition in Saskatchewan with real rural cell coverage (I am looking at you Rogers) then they would feel inclined to provide good services and software with their smart phones.  Until then the government run monopoly is free to turn good phones into useless garbage.  This needs to stop!

 I hope you found this tutorial helpful, if you did then please pass it along to others with the Samsung Instinct pone so they can get the most of out their purchase.