Sprint and Samsung made it official this morning, announcing a September 27th launch date for the Instinct HD (m850). Whlie the $249.99 price (on contract, after $100 rebate) seems a bit steep, the device's spec sheet takes the notion of "Featurephone" to a whole new level. Instinct HD rocks a 3.2' HVGA screen, 5MP Camera, 720p/1080iHD video capture and playback (via optional HDMI-out adapter), and both EV-DO Rev. A and WiFI data connectivity.

Insinct HD appears to run the same user interface as its Instinct brethren - or a very similar version of it - so we'll have to see how folks react to it in this age of uber-customizable smartphone platforms. Me, I'm mainly curious to check out that HD video capability. I more and more love the idea of a portable media center that can play HD video on a big screen TV. Zune HD does it, but it's not a phone - and you know how I like the all-in-one covergence factor. While I'm not holding out too much hope that Instinct HD's camcorder can go toe-to-toe with my standalone Canon, I do have fingers crossed that 720p video playback will live up to the promise of Instinct HD's name.

We'll have some hands-on video with Instinct HD by early next week at the latest, I'm guessing ... Meantime, here's Sprint's promo video for you to chew on.