SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. -- A class-action lawsuit has been filed against handheld maker Palm for "unfair competition and fraudulent, unfair, deceptive and false advertising" of its m130 organizer.
The lawsuit, which was filed in California's superior court in Santa Clara County on behalf of two m130 owners and "all others similarly situated," claims that Palm misled consumers into believing its m130 personal digital assistant could support more than 65,000 colors.
The lawsuit follows on the heels of an admission made earlier this week by Palm that the m130 PDA is unable to display the 65,536 colors the company had been advertising since the product came out in March. By using blending techniques, the company can display 58,621 "color combinations -- approximately 11 percent fewer color combinations than we had originally believed" on the m130, said Palm spokeswoman Marlene Somsak.
Somsak called the error an "honest mistake" and said the company was not aware of it until Wired News made an inquiry.
While Palm has no plans to offer refunds for the mistake, the company has issued an apology on its website and is mulling ways to compensate m130 owners.
M130 owners Jonathan Lipner, Yansu Ouyang and others who may join the lawsuit aren't satisfied with the company's response.
"'More than 65,000 colors' produces higher quality, more accurate screen display than the screen display of defendant's m130," attorneys from the law firm of Sheller Ludwig & Badey in Philadelphia said in the suit. "The difference in quality and accuracy of the screen display is reflected in higher retail prices for handhelds that in fact support more than 65,000 colors."
At the time of this posting, Palm said it had not seen the lawsuit.
Palm (PALM) shares were down 7 cents to 92 cents on Wednesday.
