404 dear friend and marketing expert Rana Sobhany is back on The 404 Podcast today in lieu of Jeff who is taking a day off from his hard video game reviewing work. Rana always brings us something when she comes on the show, last time she brought cupcakes, so we definitely owe her a batch; however, this time she brings us exciting news that she's currently unemployed! Hooray! After building Medialets up into the iPhone powerhouse that it is today, Rana's ready to jump into a new project, but not before taking a bit of a break and focusing more on brand consulting. So congrats to Rana on her new horizons!

Of course, with Jeff away the show is left in the hands of the very capable Wilson G. Tang, who handles the board with the finesse and delicacy of a heavyweight-class UFC fighter. The first story on today's rundown is about Pepsi's controversial new app that supposedly helps men "score" with women by offering dozens of stereotypes with targeted pickup lines, talking points, and a scoreboard to "keep track of their conquests." Since we just so happen to have a stunning female in the room with us today, we have to try out a few pick up lines...and you can see where this is going.

Twitter wine label maxes out at 120-character

(Credit: Twitter)

Rana also brings us news about Twitter-branded wine! That's right, the popular social networking site has partnered with San Francisco-based winery Crushpad that lets users select a wine (only pinot noir and chardonnay for now) and even customize the label on the bottle! I wonder how The 404's own wine would taste...I'm thinking very bitter with an awful aftertaste.

Also, a big thanks goes out to Tony and Ashton from Lacey, Washington who called in this week to tell us that their entire second period Science class listens to The 404 together! Although we never considered The 404 to have any parochial merit, one thing is for sure: you have the coolest science teacher ever! I never had any high school teachers that let us listen to podcasts during class time...speaking of which, get to work! Study hard, and one day you can invite us as guests on your podcast! Speaking of which, we want the whole class and your teacher to call and leave us a voice mail, 1-866-404-CNET!

Have a great Thursday, everyone!

Scan your Facebook news feed with the new Android app.

(Credit: Facebook)

While iPhone owners have long had a powerful Facebook app with a wide range of functionality, Google Android users have had to make do with the mobile version of the social networking site (called Facebook Lite). Not only does it offer limited features, but also it is clunky and rather difficult to navigate.

But that changed Tuesday when a new and long-awaited Facebook app hit the Android market. The free app offers many of the features that you've come to expect on the iPhone app and the full version of the site. You can scan your news feed, view your friends' walls and user information, comment on status updates, hit the "like" button, take and upload photos, add new friends and post status updates of your own. What's more, you can add a notification widget to your home screen and you even can shake to refresh your news feed.

Though we welcome the extra features, the interface and navigation appear a bit convoluted as of now. For example, it takes a lot of clicks to get to a friend's profile and list of friends. Also, you can't get Facebook chat or access to messaging for now. We assume those features will be added soon.

It's worth noting that while Facebook is listed as the developer in the Android Market, according to Facebook's official Web page for the app, it was not developed by the company. From what we hear, Google developed the app with Facebook's help.

We installed the app without incident on our T-Mobile MyTouch 3G. Check back soon for a full review.

Android Facebook app photos

Jill Schlesinger of CBS' MoneyWatch joins the show to talk about the economy. So it turns out that things aren't going to collapse, and we're not going to have to sell our bodies in a barter system. That doesn't mean, however, that we're out of the woods, and Jill is here to show us the way out. Throw in a little bit of health care, a little bit of Social Security, and a garlic smell? Only on The 404!

(Credit: Jill Schlesinger/CBS)

For the last couple of months, stocks have been soaring more than 50 percent since their March low. Jill says all that means is that the market doesn't think we're headed for Great Depression 2.0, but that doesn't mean we're out of trouble. In the dark, we imagine what V-, U-, and W- recoveries would look like. Strange... Justin, is that your hand on my leg?

Further down the line, we jump into the health care debate. Jill tells us her generation is screwing our generation and not in a good way. Essentially, they took all the good health care, and we (the 20-somethings) will just not be able to afford the premium "best health care" in the world, when we really need it. And somehow, Wilson reveals some of his Republican leanings? Say what?

Finally, we get into personal savings for the future, and we pick up the ashes of our 401(k)s. So while your parents may have lost a bundle on their retirement funds, we 20-somethings still have another 40 years before we really have to worry about our returns. Meanwhile, Social Security is a toss-up. Jill wants to advise President "Barry" Obama that the easy solution to fixing the "Third Rail" of American politics is just tying benefits to an age index. People are just living too long...death panels, any one?

Wow! So we hope you finally learned something on The 404. We sure did! Send in your feedback to the usual at the404 [at] cnet [dot] com. Follow Jill on Twitter. Or leave us a voice mail at 1-866-404-CNET, and you can debate us on the finer points of the liquidity of the money supply and U6 unemployment figures.

A couple weeks back, Kodak announced new products for this fall, including the excellent Zi8 minicamcorder. At the same time, the company was touring the guys in the video above--Brett Westcott and Cameron Brown--up the East Coast trying to get people to smile by complimenting them.

The two are known as the Compliment Guys (go figure) back on their campus at Purdue, where they started doing their thing to cheer people up. Kodak decided to put them on a 10-city tour, coinciding with its latest marketing campaign, "It's Time to Smile!"

So what does this have to do with Crave? Well, it's my own curiosity about whether marketing like this or things like viral videos have ever gotten you to buy from one tech brand over another? Does anything unrelated to the tech itself guide who gets your money? Is there still brand loyalty beyond Apple? Let me know in the comments.

I can't say a compliment would get me, but that's because I'm cynical and basically dead inside. However, seeing the video did get me to write this post, so I guess on that level they got me.

(Credit: Handmark)

The countdown is well under way for Microsoft's Windows Mobile app store, called Windows Marketplace for Mobile, which is slated to arrive in early fall alongside the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system. Yet on Tuesday, mobile media company Handmark outmaneuvered Microsoft, releasing a rival application for Windows Mobile phones: HandMarket Apps for Windows Mobile.

Handmark's HandMarket app store is compatible with phones running Windows Mobile 6.0 and up. At launch there are 600 applications and games each, plus about 50,000 ringtones and wallpaper items. Prices range from $0 to about $60.

HandMarket fits what can now be recognized as the app store paradigm. It has a quick search function, browsable categories, and users' star ratings and reviews. Like the BlackBerry App World, HandMarket Apps for Windows Mobile includes a screen summarizing past downloads at a glance. If you uninstall an app for space considerations, you'll be able to reinstall through this "locker."

Tracking app store downloads goes hand-in-hand with billing. HandMarket can bill you through your cell phone carrier (your monthly bill reflects your download purchases,) or you can tack purchases onto a credit card that you associate with your account.

In addition, the app store will alert you when an app update is available. HandMarket also lets you share app details with others.

Handmark's HandMarket may well turn out to be a good interim app store for those who want to jump on board the store's centralized distribution and billing model without waiting for Microsoft. The fact that it's also available now for earlier Windows Mobile platforms means it will remain an app store option for those who don't immediately jump aboard Windows Mobile 6.5. It's likely, though, that today's HandMarket users could abandon the app tomorrow when and if they do trade up to a Windows Mobile phone featuring Microsoft's built-in app store and billing system.

To reward early adopters, Handmark is opening its app store with an 80-percent-off sale on some Windows Mobile games, which can be found in the "Specials" screen.

Handmark's free HandMarket Apps for Windows Mobile is currently only available in North America for a variety of Windows Mobile phones, but the company says that it does plan to expand support internationally.

Here's an interesting solution for anyone who has a killer idea for an iPhone app but doesn't know the first thing about software development: Moobila turns your idea into an app and markets it on the App Store.

Actually, the company specializes in turning existing corporate software into iPhone apps, thereby eliminating the need to train or hire programmers.

But Moobila also provides an opportunity for budding entrepreneurs to see their ideas turned into potentially money-making software. You pay for the development; you keep whatever revenue it generates.

Want to see a few proofs of concept? Moobila has already developed three iPhone apps, including tape-measure replacement iFlipMeasure and iPicolo, which lets you upload a photo to multiple social-networking sites at once.

You'll have to contact Moobila for a quote, of course, as no two apps are alike when it comes to development. But hourly rates start at around $15-20, according to a company rep.

Google Checkout is the only payment option for Android users.

(Credit: Taylor Wimberly)

Google and T-Mobile held a joint news conference last week to discuss their upcoming promotion for the new Google Android-powered . While the code names of upcoming Android updates like Eclair and Flan were an obvious focus of the conference, I found the most important revelation to be the expansion of payment methods for Android Market.

Thanks to a coming update, Google Checkout will now support multiple billing systems and T-Mobile customers will be able to charge purchases directly to their monthly bill. Also, while the sign-up process for Google Checkout is not difficult, removing it is one less barrier to a potential purchase.

Google Checkout has been the only payment option since the Android Market first launched paid applications. Despite a few initial download glitches related to credit card authorization, the service has performed relatively well since. Purchases are easily completed in seconds and instant refunds are available during the first 24 hours.

... Read more

The Netbook is looking more like a notebook nowadays.

(Credit: CBS Interactive)

According to a study released on Tuesday by market research firm NPD Group, Netbooks are confusing customers. Sixty percent of the nearly 600 adults surveyed said they bought a Netbook instead of a notebook because they thought they had the same functionality. Had they known that they didn't, many of those respondents would have purchased a notebook instead.

"We need to make sure consumers are buying a PC intended for what they plan to do with it," said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD. "Retailers and manufacturers can't put too much emphasis on PC-like capabilities and general features that could convince consumers that a Netbook is a replacement for a notebook. Instead, they should be marketing mobility, portability, and the need for a companion PC to ensure consumers know what they are buying and are more satisfied with their purchases."

Baker makes a fine point. Netbooks aren't notebooks. They're not nearly as powerful as their larger counterparts, they're cheaper, and they're typically more suitable for those who want to go mobile. But that line between Netbooks and notebooks is quickly blurring. And it's starting to backfire.

(Credit: Matt Hickey)

Oh, Dell, did you start up a firestorm. Sure, your idea was great: create a site marketing your Netbooks to women. But instead of telling non-tech-savvy women what they can do with their laptops--download recipes!--you ended up offending the tech-savvy ladies, who, you know, are the ones who have actually bought your computers.

I have several friends who are women (no, really!). I showed the site to several of them and the feedback was completely negative. One of my friends actually said she now feels bad about the Dell Netbook she bought just two months ago. Awesome.

You see, computers are computers are computers. They are gender-neutral. Your ads should be too. The good news is you listened to consumer feedback over the past few days. Gone from the Della site are the tacky 1950s-style housewifeisms and the "shoe shopping" stuff. They've been replaced by more appropriate language.

Still, Della, your "site" for women, is still a little too "Sex in the City" and not enough "it's 2009 and we all have computers."