LG reveals new 3G netbook, the Momo

LG is releasing a 3G netbook called the Momo X110. Like all netbooks, it has indistinguishable specs: the ubiquitous 1.6GHz processor, a 1.3MP webcam, a 10 inch screen and Windows XP. The big addition is the 3G radio antenna, which will likely see the X110 as a bundle-deal with cellphone carriers.

The product name strikes me as a bit strange for an English market, though. LG is obviously conjuring up the image of a peach with the Momo name, which is a fine connotation for a cute netbook in pastel colors. But it's also a bit tin-eared: it's too close phonemically to the word "homo" not to cause a slew of double-takes when shoppers skim through their Verizon Wireless circulars and — for one brief moment, before they rub their eyes and re-read — are seemingly confronted with an ad for an adorable, pink laptop that apparently wears its sexuality on its sleeve. Which is, admittedly, a pretty wonderful mental image, but perhaps not the one LG is looking for.

X110 Momo [LG via Gadget Lab]

[#1 posted by aj , September 29, 2008 8:26 AM]

LG is a Korean company, not Japanese.

[#2 posted by dculberson , September 29, 2008 8:35 AM]

Momo immediately made me thing of MOMA ... take that for what it's worth.

[#3 posted by John Brownlee , September 29, 2008 8:37 AM]

My bad, AJ. Thanks for the correction.

[#4 posted by monopole , September 29, 2008 10:04 AM]

Obviously a reference to a small cute death god:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangiku_Matsumoto#Momo_Hinamori

[#5 posted by Nora Rocket , September 29, 2008 10:16 AM]

And I think of the small Tibetan steamed/fried dumpling...an accurate representation of how my mind works.

[#6 posted by JArmstrong , September 29, 2008 11:05 AM]

Unfortunately, "momo" is also a derogatory term for the mentally or emotionally impaired.

[#7 posted by Hellblazer , September 29, 2008 11:30 AM]

@ #6 -- Really? I've never heard that one before.

[#8 posted by mdh , September 29, 2008 11:49 AM]

'homo' is the new 'sapiens'

[#9 posted by sumi , September 29, 2008 1:21 PM]

@7 -- Yup, 'round here it usually stands in for "moron," but it's not widely used.

[#10 posted by Downpressor , September 29, 2008 11:53 PM]

Round these parts its slang for ass.

[#11 posted by Anonymous , September 30, 2008 1:07 AM]

MOMO is a rice/race car steering wheel company i thought.. so you might well get a load of young revhead guys buying it. In the car world MOMO & HOMO are the polar opposite of each other.

[#12 posted by Anonymous , October 30, 2008 1:18 PM]

"it's too close phonemically to the word "homo" not to cause a slew of double-takes ..."

Really, that didn't even occur to me. Methinks this observation says more about the writer's opinion of Verizon subscribers than it does the rest of humanity.