Kyoto-based company Rohm impressed us at last year's CEATEC with a mega-tiny OLED display but it didn't rest on its laurels. A larger prototype exhibited this year emitted ambient light at 3,000 to 4,000cd/m² and a brief flash at 100,000cd/m² -- that's respectively 10 and 250 times the brightness of a typical LCD display. But the impressive bit was this: nothing illuminated cast a shadow. Obviously a light like that is a poor match for a haunted house or romantic restaurant, but surgeons use shadowless lamps at the operating table, so there are applications. The short shelf life of OLED materials is still a nagging disadvantage, but as Dr. Eldon Tyrell would say: "the light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and you have burned so very, very brightly." Then again, he was talking about cybernetic killing machines, so, maybe not such a great endorsement.

[Thanks, Erik]

We've seen the HTC-sourced T-Mobile Shadow II peeking out from around the dark corners of eBay and the harsh lights of the FCC, but the latest word is that the WinMo slider will also come equipped with UMA, allowing it to work with HotSpot@Home. That's a first for an HTC handset and a first for Windows Mobile, but before you get all excited, check the source of those whispers: "market sources" quoted by Digitimes. Yeah, we'll believe it when we see it.

We look at sellers of unreleased phones on eBay much the same way we look at the FCC's device approval database: fun for window shopping, but that's about it. We're not sure we'd personally part with enough cash to find out whether the seller of this particular HTC Shadow II for T-Mobile actually has the thing to sell us, though we can totally understand why well-heeled folk might be willing to give it a go (and if we had enough money to buy a phone straight off an FCC lab, we'd probably be living somewhere in a private archipelago with no phone service to start with). The long-rumored smartphone seems to change colors every time we see it, with this latest pack of photos suggesting a glossy black front with dark red gradient accents -- not bad, we'll admit. Like the original, the Shadow II packs WiFi and a 2 megapixel camera, but when it launches later this year it'll come out of the box with Windows Mobile 6.1 and a decidedly friendlier industrial design. Oh -- and hopefully, a friendlier price than a functional prototype is currently commanding on auction.

[Thanks, Fernando]

So, what is the HTC CONV100? Looks like we might finally have our answer after the freakin' Bluetooth SIG left us all scratching our heads a few months back. The answer lies in this grainy picture that the FCC somehow passes as an official filing document, in this case used to identify the location of the Bluetooth antenna relative to the exterior of the device. Those with sharp memories will recall that this looks suspiciously like the spy picture we saw of the supposed Shadow II for T-Mobile, and the lack of WCDMA 850 / 1900 in the test documentation would certainly jibe with that theory. The white casing looks like it could really pan out, too, so we're kinda hoping T-Mob ends up offering at least a couple colors when this one inevitably gets official in the next few weeks, months, years, or decades.

[Via Cell Phone Signal]

Just when we were getting used to T-Mobile's Shadow, it appears we're going to have to make room in our pockets for its successor... the Shadow II. Picking up almost exactly where the first iteration left off, this grainy spy shot reveals that its going to be more of the same for the revamp, save for some new rounded edges and oh-so-chic reflective finish. We'll assume the company is sticking to the plan with a slide out numeric keypad, but you never know; they could be hiding a QWERTY under there... or some kind of weird Gremlin.

[Thanks, Jason]

Well, would you look at that. If not for the gaudy packaging, $69.99 price tag and blatant Oasis Media branding, we'd swear the Playr was a T-Mobile Shadow (or HTC's P3300, we guess). Yep, this knockoff does a fairly decent job of mirroring its inspirer, sports 2GB of storage and a miniSD expansion slot, comes with 35 free eMUSIC downloads and includes a built-in media player for good measure. Interestingly, we get the feeling that this thing won't actually send or receive calls, but if you're quick, no one will even notice.

[Thanks, Rick]

Update: Turns out this thing is actually the MachSpeed Oasis Video Player, and is readily available on Amazon (among other places). Still, it could stand some originality in the design department. [Thanks, Rob!]

Head on over to Engadget Mobile to catch the new T-Mobile Shadow live and in person. We hear the slider action is a little addictive, so don't be surprised if those slackers take the rest of the day off to enjoy their new toy.

Wing who? T-Mobile today has announced the long-rumored Shadow, a Windows Mobile 6 Standard device that looks not just better than its Wing stablemate, but arguably better than just about any comparably-equipped smartphone on the market today. Besides the "slick, slider design" and a juiced version of the standard Windows Mobile 6 UI, the Shadow features a rotating jog dial front and center, 2 megapixel camera, WiFi, and a new version of T-Mobile's myFaves interface allowing users to call, email, text, or MMS the peeps in their "fave five." Like what you see? If you do, good, because it turns out this is just the first in a whole line of upcoming Shadow-branded phones for the carrier -- a line that'll be focusing on multimedia connectivity and slanting the work / life balance a little more to the "life" side than some of HTC's and T-Mobile's other smart devices (ahem, Wing, we're looking straight at you). Grab the Shadow starting this Wednesday in "sage" or "copper" for a surprisingly reasonable $149.99 on two-year contract.

Here it is again, the HTC Juno / Pheobus / Dopod C750 all boxed up in its soon to be announced T-Mobile Shadow branding. A tipster over at The Boy Genius Report claims that it might be sporting a VGA screen like we've already heard and that center-button is actually a scroll-wheel which serves as a 4-way navigation pad. The green and brown colors are said to "look great" with your fall wardrobe while sporting a soft-touch finish around back to keep this slider, sliding in your hand and not off the tabletop. BGR's got a full gallery just beyond the read link.