HP Glisten review and software tour

InfoSyncWorld posted a short review of the HP iPAQ Glisten (Obsidian) smartphone which they found barely good enough. Unfortunately HP didn’t bother tweaking the device with any custom UI changes or anything else. here’s their conclusion:

With the HP iPaq Glisten, we wonder if HP has been paying attention to the phone market for the last couple of years. The phone is the most basic, barebones Windows Mobile 6.5 device you could imagine, with almost no extra software or convenient tweaks to improve the user experience. Business users will enjoy the tight integration with Microsoft Exchange and the solid build quality. The phone also packs a large battery and can hold a charge through a busy day’s use. Plus, the keyboard is nice and large for easy typing, definitely a solid competitor to RIM’s BlackBerry Bold 9700. But beyond the basic business features, the phone comes up short. As more business users rely on a single device for their work and personal lives, the HP iPaq Glisten performs poorly at Web browsing, multimedia functions, taking pictures and just about anything other than serious work. The interface is difficult to use by touch alone, which is why most manufacturers, like HTC with their Tilt 2 on AT&T, improve it with some sort of enhancements. But with the HP iPaq Glisten, all you get are the basics, and that might not be enough for many users. Release: December 2009. Price: $180.

Read it here

Pocketnow also uploaded a video hardware & software tour of the Glisten:

Source: InfosyncWorld & Pocketnow