T-Mobile USA, Inc. announced its T-Mobile Shadow, a Windows Mobile-based phone with great connectivity options and a pretty low price. The Shadow is made by none other than High Tech Computer Corp. of Taoyuan, Taiwan (HTC) which recently started branding their own phones.

“We’re calling the new line of devices ‘Shadow’ because they’re designed to help people stay effortlessly connected with those who are closest to them – the people you would choose to have with you all the time if possible – the people you love checking in with during a hectic day or to share special news,” said Robert Dotson, president and CEO, T-Mobile USA.”

The pocket-sized phone slides open to reveal a keyboard for typing e-mails (similar to the BlackBerry Pearl's)and features connectivity for Wi-Fi wireless Internet networks, as well as EDGE and Bluetooth. The T-Mobile Shadow will go on sale Oct. 31 for $149.99 with a two-year contract and a subscription for voice and data service. The data service costs $19.99 a month and also includes access through T-Mobile's Wi-Fi locations.

 “We partnered exclusively with T-Mobile to help them deliver a deep communications experience that is built around the customer,” said Peter Chou, president and CEO, HTC. “In both form and function, the T-Mobile Shadow delivers an unmistakable commitment to enhancing personal relationships.”

The shadow features a high-quality, 2.0-megapixel digital camera with video capture as well as a multimedia player that provides a convenient way to listen to and share favorite music and video. Its custom T-Mobile Address Book lets customers easily import contact information from Yahoo!, Gmail, Microsoft Outlook and other e-mail services onto their phone using my.t-mobile.com.

The sliding Shadow's keypad is hybrid-type, five keys wide, with two letters on each key, and it uses the predictive software Tegic XT9 to predict the next word in a sentence. The device features a 210 Mhz processor and a roomy 72MB of program memory.