HP Picks Worst Name Ever For New SmartphoneHP Picks Worst Name Ever For New Smartphone

Hewlett Packard has occasionally tossed a new iPAQ-branded smartphone into the market more as proof that it can still make them than to scare up any real sales. Its latest smartphone is perhaps one of the best-looking it has ever crafted, but HP crippled it with a terrible, horrible, no-good name.According to the press release and everything HP has published about its new smartphone, it should be a winner. Let's look at the basic stats.

It has both a touch screen (AMOLED, no less!) and a full QWERTY keyboard. It runs Windows Mobile 6.5, and is compatible with the expected set of hardcore enterprise apps that WinMo is known for. It has all the radios inside that the busy professional could ever hope for, including 3G for the U.S. and Europe, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. It has a pretty decent camera, which comes in at 3.1 megapixels. It also has pretty decent looks. In fact, I'd say HP actually let someone with an artistic background (and not an engineering degree) fashion the looks and appearance of this phone. It's got a spate of great software on board, such as Facebook, The Weather Channel, JetCet Print, Mobile Banking, HP PhotoSmart Mobile and more.

But it's not going to sell.

Why? All because of the name (OK, the price point -- $230 -- isn't doing it any favors, either).

This new device is called the "Glisten". Yes, glisten. As in "dew drops glistening on the flowers." Merriam-Webster defines glisten as: "to give off a sparkling or lustrous reflection of or as if of a moist surface."

I don't know about you, but I NEVER want my smartphone to be moist or sparkling.

I performed a quick Google Search for "glisten." Aside from the dictionary definitions for the word, most of the results included references to dishwasher detergent.

Sorry, HP. You may have crafted a nice Windows Mobile smartphone, but Glisten is one of the most inappropriately applied names I've ever seen. Please, please, rename it to the HP-123 or something similarly boring to give it a fighting chance in the market.