T-Mobile to cast Shadow on the iPhone?

Since the much-trumpeted June 29 arrival of the touch-screen iPhone, a seemingly never-ending stream of rival mobile phone products have hit the technology market in an attempt to dim the spotlight bathing Apple’s diminutive device. This week T-Mobile is hoping to place the iPhone firmly in its Shadow. T-Mobile USA hopes to muscle in on the iPhone's popularity with its new HTC-made Shadow handset. Credit: T-Mobile.

T-Mobile USA hopes to muscle in on the iPhone's popularity with its new HTC-made Shadow handset. Credit: T-Mobile.More pointedly, T-Mobile USA has announced the imminent availability of its new T-Mobile Shadow, which will be released tomorrow (October 31) as the first handset in a brand new line of phones branded with the Shadow label. According to T-Mobile, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, the Shadow brand "will become synonymous with playful, easier and richer communications experiences offered only by T-Mobile.""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," outlined Robert Dotson, president and CEO of T-Mobile USA. "Shadow finally makes staying connected to people simple, fun and easy – and all without the hassle of using a complicated device. This is not a productivity tool. This phone is designed for people who have lives beyond work."Designed and manufactured by Taiwan-based High Tech Computer (HTC), the T-Mobile Shadow is being positioned in order to "significantly reduce the complexity often associated with many feature-rich devices" such as smartphone handsets like the Nokia N95 or perhaps even the Apple iPhone. In an effort to remove "the complexity of traditional multi-function phones" so that users can avoid having to "wrestle with technology" the Shadow is being hailed as enabling customers to explore and experiment with new communication methods in a much more intuitive environment.Features and functions connected to the T-Mobile Shadow include an enhanced myFaves functionality for improved flexibility in communication and connection, enabling users to call, send e-mail, texts, pictures, video, and voice note with a single button press. The phone also offers up an improved user-interface that comes complete with Microsoft Windows Mobile 6 operating system.The copper or sage Shadow boasts a sleek slider aesthetic design (which reveals the phone’s "20-Key" keypad, licensed from BlackBerry creators Research In Motion), spin navigation wheel, an onboard 2.0 megapixel digital camera with video capture, "one of the largest, most-radiant screens on any T-Mobile phone," and a versatile multimedia player. Internet connection and Web surfing is provided by Wi-Fi and EDGE for quick and easy usage, and users also get the advantage of stereo Bluetooth."We are not trying to replicate an iPhone," said Dotson in a Seattle Times article, "It’s a great product and they’ve [Apple] done a great job, but it’s an experience built around me. It’s a self-indulgent product where I can sit down and have all the experiences that are important to me." Conversely, Dotson points out that the Shadow is about those people most valued by the user: "It’s a we-, it’s an us- phone," he added.The Shadow will go on sale through official T-Mobile stores as of tomorrow for either $149 USD or $199 USD based on preferred customer calling plans.