Conclusion
I’m guessing that Shadow’s keyboard will have a lot to do with how potential users take to this phone. Shadow packs a nice feature set and a great UI into a cool little package, but it may prove to be a case of “neither here nor there,” trapped between smaller, simpler low-end phones and larger devices with more email-friendly keypads. True messaging addicts may well opt for one of T-Mobile’s
Sidekick devices or even the HTC Wing or
BlackBerry Curve and their full QWERTY boards.
Still, HTC and T-Mobile are to be commended for the work they did packaging the power of a Windows Mobile smartphone in a consumer-friendly offering. Shadow’s size, style, and friendly, efficient user interface go a long way towards making advanced features like WiFi connectivity and integrated Email much easier for the non-geek to get a grasp on. Shadow may wind up being a critics’ favorite that struggles to win over customers, but it should serve as a sign of good things to come in the realm of user experience and industrial design on mobile devices.
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4.5
