Saturday, August 24, 2002
PDA makers, just be honest about your specs
Posted by Ed Hansberry in "THOUGHT" @ 05:00 AM
http://www.wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,54727,00.html
Two years ago HP got caught on their color devices claiming they were 16 bit when they were really 12 bit color. Honest mistake? Well, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Seems like the marketing team got ahead of the engineering team. Two years ago HP got slapped on the wrist by the FTC because they supposedly claimed their devices had wireless capabilities. I think it was last year Palm got smacked for the same reason. Ok, that was just stupid. They both said in the fine print you needed extra hardware and a special account, but nobody needs protecting like the American consumer. After all, we sue McDonalds for making hot coffee. The nerve of them!
Ok, those are honest mistakes. But Palm has been in the news this week for their color deficient Palm M130. What is it with Palm lately? Say what you want about their products, their reputation has been pretty good in the past, definitely something to be proud of. Last year they ignored the problems with their cradles for the M500 series. Then they downplayed it. Then finally several months later they started correcting the issue with affected consumers. Ok, recalls are costly and companies will do whatever they can to avoid them. But the M130? The more I find out about this product, the worse it gets.
Based on info from Palm, Amazon still has "Bright and easy-to-read color screen with support for over 65,000 colors" on their site. Brighthand referred to that, correctly, as a 16 bit color screen. You see "65,000 colors" and you think 16 bit. Palm knows that. 16 bit color screens have 65,536 colors but everyone just says 65,000 colors. So, did Palm think it was 16 bit like HP did? NO! They knew it wasn't 16 bit day one, and they are still obfuscating the issue. <!>
A few days ago, Palm spokeswoman Marlene Somsak said "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." Color combinations? What does that mean? Well, PalmInfocenter has some great info on this. A 16 bit screen has 32 shades each of Red and Blue, and 64 shades of green. 32 X 32 X 64=65,536. Palm tried to match those shades with a 12 bit screen and some neat tricks. They are flashing some pixels quickly between two colors to make a shade the device can't make normally. So, white and red will give a certain shade of pink. Then they use dithering for other colors. The problem is they only were able to make 31 shades of Red and Blue, and 61 shades of Green. This is where the color combinations come from. 31 X 31 X 61 = 58,621.
Ok, that is an honest mistake, but the entire thought process is fraudulent. 65,000 colors means 16 bit. Not technically, but that is exactly the conclusion they wanted us to jump to. And now they have been caught. It never delivered 16 bit color and Palm never thought it did, yet they are still trying to weasel their way though this with technical explanations and marketing speak. What is so bad about a 12 bit color device? iPAQ 3600/3700 users knew it was 12 bit they day they bought it. Works great 99% of the time. Handspring Treos are 12 bit color. They don't use mumbo jumbo like "color combinations." They are up front about it. The XDA/T-Moble Pocket PC Phone is 12 bit. It is a beautiful device!
The problem is Palm lied. They were dishonest and misleading from the word go. Dithering is not a color and flashing pixels isn't either. If they had just said this was a 12 bit screen with some color enhancing effects, no one would have cared. Those that need 16 bit color would have passed for either a Sony or the M515. Instead Palm came up with this "color combination" mumbo jumbo and because they messed up, they got caught.
PDA makers - take notice. Say what your specs are clearly. Be forthright. I don't expect a premium device for $249. I do expect the truth. Let me decide if I want to pay (then) $299 for a 12 bit device or fork over another $100 for a 16 bit color device. Palm has removed that choice from their M130 customers as long as they keep downplaying the issue and refusing refunds. This should make their choice of OEM for their next device easier.
So, what do you think? Is this a big stink over nothing being blown out of proportion by web sites and the media or do you think Palm deserves the heat they are taking for this?
Two years ago HP got caught on their color devices claiming they were 16 bit when they were really 12 bit color. Honest mistake? Well, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Seems like the marketing team got ahead of the engineering team. Two years ago HP got slapped on the wrist by the FTC because they supposedly claimed their devices had wireless capabilities. I think it was last year Palm got smacked for the same reason. Ok, that was just stupid. They both said in the fine print you needed extra hardware and a special account, but nobody needs protecting like the American consumer. After all, we sue McDonalds for making hot coffee. The nerve of them!
Ok, those are honest mistakes. But Palm has been in the news this week for their color deficient Palm M130. What is it with Palm lately? Say what you want about their products, their reputation has been pretty good in the past, definitely something to be proud of. Last year they ignored the problems with their cradles for the M500 series. Then they downplayed it. Then finally several months later they started correcting the issue with affected consumers. Ok, recalls are costly and companies will do whatever they can to avoid them. But the M130? The more I find out about this product, the worse it gets.
Based on info from Palm, Amazon still has "Bright and easy-to-read color screen with support for over 65,000 colors" on their site. Brighthand referred to that, correctly, as a 16 bit color screen. You see "65,000 colors" and you think 16 bit. Palm knows that. 16 bit color screens have 65,536 colors but everyone just says 65,000 colors. So, did Palm think it was 16 bit like HP did? NO! They knew it wasn't 16 bit day one, and they are still obfuscating the issue. <!>
A few days ago, Palm spokeswoman Marlene Somsak said "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." Color combinations? What does that mean? Well, PalmInfocenter has some great info on this. A 16 bit screen has 32 shades each of Red and Blue, and 64 shades of green. 32 X 32 X 64=65,536. Palm tried to match those shades with a 12 bit screen and some neat tricks. They are flashing some pixels quickly between two colors to make a shade the device can't make normally. So, white and red will give a certain shade of pink. Then they use dithering for other colors. The problem is they only were able to make 31 shades of Red and Blue, and 61 shades of Green. This is where the color combinations come from. 31 X 31 X 61 = 58,621.
Ok, that is an honest mistake, but the entire thought process is fraudulent. 65,000 colors means 16 bit. Not technically, but that is exactly the conclusion they wanted us to jump to. And now they have been caught. It never delivered 16 bit color and Palm never thought it did, yet they are still trying to weasel their way though this with technical explanations and marketing speak. What is so bad about a 12 bit color device? iPAQ 3600/3700 users knew it was 12 bit they day they bought it. Works great 99% of the time. Handspring Treos are 12 bit color. They don't use mumbo jumbo like "color combinations." They are up front about it. The XDA/T-Moble Pocket PC Phone is 12 bit. It is a beautiful device!
The problem is Palm lied. They were dishonest and misleading from the word go. Dithering is not a color and flashing pixels isn't either. If they had just said this was a 12 bit screen with some color enhancing effects, no one would have cared. Those that need 16 bit color would have passed for either a Sony or the M515. Instead Palm came up with this "color combination" mumbo jumbo and because they messed up, they got caught.
PDA makers - take notice. Say what your specs are clearly. Be forthright. I don't expect a premium device for $249. I do expect the truth. Let me decide if I want to pay (then) $299 for a 12 bit device or fork over another $100 for a 16 bit color device. Palm has removed that choice from their M130 customers as long as they keep downplaying the issue and refusing refunds. This should make their choice of OEM for their next device easier.
So, what do you think? Is this a big stink over nothing being blown out of proportion by web sites and the media or do you think Palm deserves the heat they are taking for this?
