Palm faces legal action over m130 colour claims

NEWS Handheld maker Palm is facing a class action lawsuit for misstating the number of colours that can be displayed by its m130 handheld. The suit, filed late last week in California Superior Court in Santa Clara, charges that Palm "fraudulently, unfairly, deceptively and unlawfully" marketed its m130 handheld when it claimed the device could support 65,000 colours. Although Palm had advertised the device as capable of supporting that many colours, the company admitted last week that the device displays only 4,096 colours per pixel and apologised to customers last week. The company changed the way it markets the device but has not announced plans to offer refunds for those who purchased the device. The company has also downplayed the difference between the device's advertised display abilities and its actual capability. By using techniques such as flashing pixels and by combining nearby pixels of different shades, Palm said, the device can display more than 58,000 "colour combinations." The suit, which was brought on behalf of a Pennsylvania man and a California woman as well as all those who purchased an m130, seeks refunds for those who purchased the devices as well as attorney fees, other costs and interest. Palm spokeswoman Marlene Somsak said the company plans "to fight the lawsuit aggressively". Somsak also said Palm is exploring ways to compensate m130 owners and expects to have a plan soon. HP, which faced a similar issue with early Jornada models two years ago, offered refunds to customers. Ian Fried writes for News.com