When Palm first introduced its m130 handheld, industry analysts hailed it as a first: It was a pocket organizer with a full-color screen that could be purchased for under $300.
Well, one reason the m130 may have made the $200 price range is because it doesn't actually display 65,536 colors, as Palm has claimed. It actually supports 58,621 "color combinations" -- "approximately 11 percent fewer color combinations than we had originally believed," said Palm spokeswoman Marlene Somsak.
In a move that will require the company to notify its customers and retail partners, and update the m130 boxes and Palm website, Palm says it has misled its customers on the actual properties of the m130.
While the handheld supports so-called 16-bit programs, it can't display the 65,536 colors typical of a 16-bit application.
"We want our customers to know we made this honest mistake," Somsak said. "We truly believed the m130 offered 65,000 color combinations. We want to offer an apology."
Somsak said she was not aware of the error until she received an inquiry from Wired News.
Last month, an anonymous person posted a picture comparing the 16-bit screen of the Handspring Visor Prism and the "16-bit" screen of the Palm m130 on Geocities and Palm Infocenter message boards. For weeks, Palm aficionados debated on whether the photos were doctored or if, indeed, the m130 contained fewer colors than the Visor Prism.
In person, the screen of the m130 appears dull compared to that of the Visor Prism.
"I'm not sure why that is," a Good Guys employee said.
The person who posted the controversial photo on the message boards -- "an0nym0vs," as he is known -- later said that he learned of the discrepancy when his company, which develops a graphical product for the Palm operating system, tested the m130.
"During testing of this product, it was noted that the graphics were displaying poorly on the Palm m130 screen," he said.
After playing with the device on his own, an0nym0vs said he thought the m130 had a 12-bit screen that could support only 4,096 colors.
Industry analysts doubted him.
"It would be a PR disaster for them (Palm)," said Gartner Dataquest analyst Todd Kort. "It's something that could make a $20 to $30 difference in the product at most."
An0nym0vs said that he knew about the color discrepancy "for a while," but decided to post the information when members of the message board started criticizing Handspring for poor screen resolution on the Visor Prism.
An0nym0vs decided to show them it was, at least, a real 16-bit screen, capable of supporting 65,536 colors.
"I thought people should know that it (the m130) is a 12-bit screen, but Palm is using the marketing message, acting like it has a 16-bit screen," an0nym0vs said. "It was dishonest of Palm to say that it supports a 16-bit screen."
Palm's Somsak said it was an "honest mistake." The handheld was supposed to include support for 65,536 colors and "in the implementation of various components and technology -- together reduced the number of colors in our expectations."
Besides updating its information, Palm is also tightening its process to make sure that all of its expected properties are implemented.
Palm declined to comment on when, and if, it would compensate owners of the m130.
