The CTIA Wireless 2008 show is one of the best places to see the latest and greatest in cell phone technology, so it’s always interesting to see which mobile phone takes home the award for being the absolute best handset on display at the show. After scouring through all the various offerings, the blue ribbon was given to the Samsung Instinct.

As you recall, the Instinct has a form factor that is seriously similar to the Apple iPhone, getting a large touchscreen display for much of its user interface. Beneath this screen are three buttons for answering the call, going back, and returning to the home screen. The award was given by a panel of 31 judges. They looked at innovation, functionality, wow factor, ease of use, and the importance of technology.

Key features on the Samsung Instinct include a 2 megapixel camera, microSD expansion slot, stereo Bluetooth 2.0, and SMS voice/text messaging. And the phone was rocking some Sprint branding at CTIA, for those of you who were wondering.