Poof! Now you see it, now you don't. The Crimson is the current color of Treo 680s that has gone missing. First the Copper was missing from Palm's website. Then it suddenly reappeared. Yesterday, I got an email from Jay, one of Trecentral's writers and he informed me that the Crimson was missing from Palm's website. So I hurried over there and had a look. To my surprise, not only was the Crimson missing, but so was the Copper again.

I'm enjoying another fun night of insomnia so I thought I'd head over to Palm's website and check out the status of the colors again. It's currently 5:18am and now Copper is back but the Crimson is still missing.

I'm very curious to know if the colors that turn up missing are so popular that Palm can't keep them in stock. ivhs72 over at the Treocentral forums also wrote to me today regarding the missing colors and, he posted the following:

For some reason, the Crimson and Copper ones have flown the coop. I wonder if: 1) they were so popular they sold out, 2) Palm underestimated how many of those colors would sell, or, 3) they are getting ready for a new model like an unlocked 750 and need some of these colors to use. Enquiring minds are curious.....

Another forum member, IsLNdbOi, suggested that Palm could have taken down the Copper and Crimson while they wait to get stock of units that have the battery / camera patch built in.

Speaking of the Treo 680's battery, although my battery performance on my Graphite Treo 680 has improved since downloading the battery/camera patch, I've still seen some abnormalities every so often. My battery never reads 100% no matter how long I charge it. The highest I've seen it read upon unplugging after charging it all night was 98%. There is an interesting thread in the forums on this subject.

I think Palm was very smart to make the four colors that they did because it gives everyone more of a choice. I always appreciate it when there is a color choice in gadgets. It makes your gadget experience so much more fun and exciting. I've seen some cool gadgets that I've been tempted to buy and the color of the gadget at times has been the deal breaker for me.

I'm so glad that Palm made the different colors with the Treo 680. Heck, I wouldn't mind seeing some new colors being added. An entire rainbow of colors would be cool. I'd love to see a silver blue, a purple, or a pink. Pink seems to be a very popular gadget color right now but it's not one that I'd want myself. I hope Palm does this again with future Treos. I'd been hoping for some color choices from Palm since seeing photos of the older Palm PDAs like the Palm VX pictured here. And I'm still hoping to see a new Palm handheld sometime in the near future. It's looking like Palm is sticking with Treos for now though. They've sure been cranking them out in the past several months! I can't wait to see what Palm brings us next. The ole drool glands get stirred up just thinking about it. ;-)

So, I wonder which color will go missing next? Will it be the Arctic? I somehow doubt that it'll be the Graphite. We'll just have to wait and see.

Update: Now the Arctic is gone and so is the Copper, leaving only the Graphite at the moment.

Another Update: Well, the mystery has been solved and I don't like the outcome. According to information from members of our forum and a story on Mobility Site, the only unlocked Treo 680 offered from Palm will be the Graphite. BooHoo! ;-( Found as a footnote at the bottom of Palm's Treo 680 product page is the following:

Effective February 15, Palm will begin selling Cingular-branded Treo 680 models in crimson, arctic and copper colors. Previously, those colored models were available only in unlocked versions from Palm. The unlocked Treo 680 graphite version will continue to be sold in the United States.

Heck, it was so cool that we were able to choose from those nice colors and get an unlocked phone. And now we'll have to get stuck with a 2 year plan if we want to get a color choice. Or pay outrageous prices elsewhere to find them. I don't think people like having nice things dangled in front of their eyes and then snatched away. Not good. I thought that the color choices was a major selling point for the Treo 680 but now Cingular's customers will be the only ones getting to choose colors. Maybe Palm figures that there will be many more 680's sold through Cingular this way. Maybe so, but why cut out the people who are willing to pay a higher price for unlocked Treos with color? Oh well, there are skins available out there to jazz up our phones in just about any color and design we could want.