T-Mobile Boosts Smartphone Lineup With Shadow

T-Mobile this week said it is rolling out a smartphone that could be very appealing to the "prosumer" market because of its entertainment and communication capabilities.

The T-Mobile Shadow is powered by Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard, and it has a sliding form factor. The handset has a 20-key keyboard, and T-Mobile said its predictive text technology will make sending out messages simple. The 1.6-inch screen has 320 by 240 pixels, and it's capable of displaying 64,000 colors.

Users can sync the handset with Microsoft Outlook to get push corporate e-mail on the go, as well as e-mail from Web-based providers like Gmail, Yahoo, and others. The Shadow would also come preloaded with clients for using instant messaging services like AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, Windows Live Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger.

Shadow users will have a full HTML browser to surf the Web, and there's integrated Wi-Fi for connecting. The handset can use the Internet connection to make unlimited calls via T-Mobile's HotSpot calling service. Some may be disappointed that the Shadow cannot use T-Mobile's growing 3G network, but the smartphone does have EDGE connectivity.

T-Mobile's latest smartphone can also play music and video, and users have a MicroSD slot to store their content. There are Bluetooth capabilities, including the ability to use stereo Bluetooth headphones. Additionally, the Shadow has a 2-megapixel camera that can record video.

The Shadow is expected to be available in a few weeks in commercial stores and online, and T-Mobile didn't give a price.

T-Mobile is the smallest of the big four U.S. carriers, but it has made a concerted effort to expand its portfolio of smartphones for the prosumer market. Along with the Shadow, the carrier will have midtier smartphones like the Android-powered G1 and the BlackBerry Curve 8900.