Palm Settles FTC Deceptive-Ad Charge

Palm Inc. agreed to settle deceptive-advertising charges by disclosing when consumers must buy add-ons to perform advertised functions, the FTC said.

The FTC said Palm misled customers in advertising that claimed its hand-held devices come with built-in wireless Internet and e-mail access and common business tools such as Microsoft Word and Excel.

The ads didn’t tell buyers they had to purchase separate devices and software to use these features.

Palm’s shares were unchanged at $3.16 on Nasdaq.