OneTouch Ultra test strips

So I refilled my prescription for OneTouch Ultra test strips this week and to my surprise they looked quite different than the ones I had been getting. First of all, the new ones were light blue and my old ones were black. Second, and most importantly, the strip that absorbs the blood was shorter! They seem to require less blood than before. Does anyone know anything about this? If this is their new design I'm glad because I saw that stupid Error 5 saying my sample was too small wayyy too many times :)

Update: (I added this as a comment but just to be sure everyone sees it)
I'm actually not sure if the price dropped because I tend to close my eyes when the price comes up ;) They did tell me that they used an "evoucher" for $25 off? Anyone ever seen that? The woman who actually rung me out didn't know what it was but there was a note on the bag that it was used when they packaged it. I don't think it really affected what I actually paid because I'm sure it went towards the overall cost before my copay was calculated. Anyway, so far so good guys! I put a blood sample on one yesterday and realized it was too small and started to pull the strip out so as to avoid seeing the dreaded error 5 (somehow it makes me less angry if I realize it myself before the meter does!) and to my surprise it actually got a reading before I could get it out! Woohoo! Less blood required as far as I can tell. Happy testing everyone