The 8-bit color palette (meaning you can have up to 256 colors on the screen at once) is certainly suitable for user interface elements and most Web pages. However, photographs -- which rely on subtle changes in color -- may appear dithered or splotchy on the display.

New features in Palm OS 3.5
Other than its color capabilities, most of the enhancements in Palm OS 3.5 will not be apparent to the first-time user. Long-time Palm device users will appreciate the following features, many of which have been previously provided by third-party programs:

• You can now easily duplicate an address in the Address Book, using Command-T. The Date Book, To Do List, and Memo Pad all offer the Command-L stroke to look up phone numbers in the Address Book;

• The Command stroke no longer displays the cryptic "Command:" prompt. Instead, it displays an equally cryptic Command Bar with icons depicting allowed actions. Fortunately, highlighting an icon on the Command Bar will display a verbal description of the action you're about to take;

• Three security options are settable within the Big Four applications. You can show, hide, or mask private records. Masking a private record displays a gray bar with a padlock icon;

• The Date Book has a new view that integrates To Do list items and that day's appointments;

• One of my favorite enhancements is the ability to tap on the application's title bar to bring up menu items. Being a long time user of Ed Keyes's freeware MenuHack, I'm convinced this is much more convenient than tapping on the menu silkscreen at the bottom of the Graffiti area;

• When alarms sound, the OK button on the dialog is larger. You can also "snooze" an alarm, although the snooze time is not selectable. The Palm IIIc's alarm doesn't seem to be any louder than my Palm IIIx's alarm, though;

• People that receive a lot of beamed material will appreciate the ability to select a category as the destination on their Palm device, instead of it automatically being placed in "Unfiled".

The Big Four applications don't take any real advantage of the Palm IIIc's color (presumably for compatibility reasons) and the Expense and Mail applications don't appear to have been updated at all. Bitmaps, such as icons, are displayed in color, highlighted text is yellow, and the Date Book will denote overlapping appointments with a red bar, but that seems to be the extent of Palm OS 3.5's color usage. Palm OS 3.5 should be available for general download sometime in March 2000.

Third-party color applications
Color has apparently caught the attention of third-party software developers. For example, TealPoint has just released the color-capable version of TealPaint, shown in Figure B.

FIGURE B

Paint the town 256 colors with color TealPaint.

We've found relatively few business-type applications that have been enhanced with color. But, in the quest to create the world's most expensive GameBoy, a whole bunch of game developers have created color versions of their games. For example, Backup Buddy Software has a color version of the classic Qbert game, which they call Cuepert, as shown in Figure C.