Whither the half-pedaling on the Technics?

Just to throw this up for grabs. Anyone know why Technics removed half-pedal capability on their PX series (e.g. PX207)? I'd buy their P50 or PX663 in a heartbeat if they'd bring back half-pedaling.

Couldn't tell you why they removed it (I didn't realize they previously had it on some models) - perhaps they preferred to be be able to work with a standard binary sustain pedal? But for what it's worth, while the P50 has no half-pedalling, it does seem to some sort of emulation of the effect obtained by a quick up-down motion: if notes are already being sustained, 'pumping' the pedal like this does not cut them off completely, but dampens them considerably. This, in combination with the string resonance effect that is tied to the sustain pedal when you turn off reverb, makes for some reasonably convincing pedalling.