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Tomorrow, just in time for Halloween, T-Mobile will start shipping the Shadow, a HTC-designed Windows Mobile-run slider smartphone that reveals a BlackBerry Pearl-like keypad/keyboard combo when opened.

What that last bit means is the Shadow has twenty keys, the majority of which include a single number and two letters. So it’s neither a QWERTY keyboard nor a traditional number-pad. Like with the Pearl, the Shadow uses predictive text software to help users input words and write messages.

Because it is a Windows Mobile 6 Standard device, the Shadow's 2.6-inch, QVGA (240 x 320 pixel) resolution display isn't a touch screen. It does feature a polished Windows Mobile user-interface to make the smartphone easier to use and a spin wheel for navigation, however.

While the Shadow supports T-Mobile's myFaves service, it is an enhanced version. So in addition to unlimited nationwide calling to five people of your choice, you can quickly send an e-mail, text or instant message, and share a picture, video or voice note as well.

The Shadow, which measures 4.1 x 2.1 x 0.6 inches and weighs 5.3 ounces, is a quad-band world phone with support for 2.5G EDGE cellular-data networking, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

It’s also got a microSDHC slot for storage expansion and a 2.0 megapixel camera for picture and video.

This smartphone is the first of what T-Mobile says will be many under the Shadow brand. Shadow branded phones are supposed to signify more "playful, easier and richer communications experiences," according to T-Mobile.

"They’re designed to help people stay effortlessly connected with those who are closest to them...All without the hassle of using a complicated device," said T-Mobile USA president Robert Dotson. "This is not a productivity tool. This phone is designed for people who have lives beyond work.”

When the Shadow ships tomorrow, it'll come in copper and sage. The asking price is $150.