Palm blue over color claim mistake

NEW YORK : Life just got a little less colorful for Palm Inc. Palm, the dominant maker of handheld computers, disclosed on Monday that its $249 m130 handheld can display far fewer colors than the company originally claimed. The m130 -- whose slogan is "as colorful as your life" -- can really display only 58,621 colors, not 65,536 colors, said company spokeswoman Marlene Somsak.

The disclosure, first reported by Wired News, came after months of speculation by some dedicated Palm followers that the device's marketing information was incorrect. "We discovered that indeed the screen delivers about 11 percent fewer colors than we had believed," Somsak said. She said the product was designed to display the full 65,000 colors, but was not actually built in a way that would allow the display of so many colors.

The company is offering an apology and an explanation to customers, but no rebate or recall, Somsak said. The error comes as Palm reels from shrinking demand and a technology slump that have sent its stock price tumbling.

© Reuters