The strange collective mind of Palm marketing continues to give us great material. Speaking of material, Palm, it seems, is naming their high-end corporate devices “Tungsten,” presumably because Apple’s got titanium. Seriously though, it’s an interesting choice of materials to use as a brand name.

Sure, the word “Tungsten” sounds good and apparently tested well in focus groups. Tungsten has the highest melting point of all elements except carbon. However, with a density of 19.25 g/cu.cm, tungsten is also among the heaviest metals. Interesting, tungsten contains small amounts of carbon and oxygen, which give tungsten metal its considerable hardness and brittleness.

We have to wonder why a maker of very small, very portable devices would name their new line after a brittle, excessively heavy metal?

And this, of course, brings us to Zire, the new brand name for the consumer line. I have to admit that I don’t get it. Is it a play on the word “desire,” does it spark your “ire,” or does it simply reflect your delusions of grandeur, “Sire?”

What do you think of these interesting new names? Share your thoughts on PalmPower’s PowerBoards. We’ll collect some of the most interesting posts and publish them in a later issue. What names would you pick? Can you out-creative the creative folks at Palm? Post your thoughts.