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CARLSBAD, Calif.--In one of the more anticipated chats at D: All Things Digital, Palm Executive Chairman Jon Rubinstein showed off the Palm Pre and talked about several features of the smartphone for the first time.

Rubinstein showed how the device can search Amazon's MP3 store and download songs directly to the device, a feature mentioned at the Pre's unveiling at CES in January. The Pre is scheduled to go on sale June 6 with a price tag of $199.99, after rebate.

He also showed a "media sync" feature that lets users grab nonprotected media … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--For Paul Kavanagh, the animation supervisor on the new "Star Trek" movie, one technical element of the film was particularly challenging.

During live-action filming, director J.J. Abrams had done something unusual: In a bid to incorporate a shaky, handheld effect, Abrams would frequently sit behind the camera and literally tap on the back of it with his fingers. But "Star Trek" is jam-packed with computer graphics, and for Kavanagh, it was imperative to find a way to replicate the effect of that finger tapping, even in the purely digital sequences. Not to do so, … Read more

After yesterday's downer show, we're back and cheerier than ever. Even Jeff is in good spirits after the New Jersey Devils got stomped all over their home ice. We discover today that Wal-Mart really does rock, and not in a good way.

The lesson of today's show is DO NOT BUY ELECTRONICS FROM WAL-MART, unless you're a rock collector, in which case you'll be thrilled, because apparently the company is literally selling Nintendo DS boxes filled with sediment.

We need to get THE BONCH, aka Bonnie Cha back on our show to talk about the Palm Pre. Actually, Palm is offering preproduction review units to Average Joes (and Josephines) in hopes of receiving "true life" feedback on the smartphone. Wilson seems to think that most consumers will frown on the smaller screen size, but we all have high hopes for the brand since this is definitely a last ditch effort in the smartphone market.

In exciting movie news, Jeff is superstoked to hear about a "Drop Dead Fred" remake starring Russel Brand, that quirky English dude that played the hippy beauhunk in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." His brand of piratey humor should do well as a young girl's imaginary friend, right? Oh! We also reveal another popular movie sequel in the works, but you'll have to listen to the show to get the full scoop.

Finally, we touch on the bloated cost of higher education and how NYU students are getting questionable phone calls about their financial aid. Apparently NYU financial advisers are individually calling students receiving significant amounts of financial aid and questioning their decisions to accept the money and attend the university. If I were still in school and someone called me about this, I'd probably just tell them to put the check in the mail and stop telling me what to do all the time.

Today's CFTP is rather heartfelt. Thanks to everyone who called in, and we'd like to personally welcome James Christopher Maximus to the world! You were born today, dude! Hopefully you're reading this in the year 2021, when you're old enough to fully grasp our jokes. We love your dad for breeding future listeners of The 404!

Per usual, don't forget to check out our live VIDEOcast (man it feels good to write that) every morning at 11 a.m. ET. We have a ton of fun in the preshow and you get the inside scoop on how we prepare for the show. And please please please call and leave us a voicemail at 1-866-404-CNET (2638)!

Microsoft and technology analyst Roger Kay have made a couple of changes to their charts outlining the "Apple Tax," but the update does little to address broader critiques of their math.

On Monday, Microsoft noted that it has updated both Kay's white paper and the accompanying blog post and chart to reflect the fact that both failed to take into account Apple's latest hardware specifications. The new paper and chart use slightly different models on the PC side.

However, the main points I (and others) made last week regarding Microsoft's bad math haven't changed. … Read more

This weekend, Justin Yu made an appearance on Tom Merritt's and Roger Chang's podcast, East Meets West. Ostensibly, it sounds like a podcast about technology and Asian and Western cultures, right? Nope. Turns out it's half an hour where Tom and Roger ream Justin and The 404 for our use of "curse words."

Also in the news this weekend, "Adventureland" came out. Contrary to its marketing campaign, it's not a film in the vein of "Superbad," but is actually kind of deep. As for way less deep films, "Fast and Furious" topped the charts with a cool 72.5 million bones. Michael McCarthy, ace reporter Caroline McCarthy's little brother, joins the show today to lend us his opinion on movies and provide a laugh track.

Twitter, for all the problems that it's caused in the world, may have actually saved the life of a suicidal woman. Apparently, if you @reply Demi Moore, you can get saved. There's some more bummer technology stories in there, too.

In happier news, Rick Moranis might make an appearance in "Ghostbusters III." We just hope that Seth Rogan, Michael Cera, Paul Rudd, and Jonah Hill aren't the new Ghostbusters. Also, Queen Elizabeth II gets an iPod from Barack Obama filled with show tunes. And finally, Domino's gives away 11,000 pizzas, accidentally.

Listen to this episode of East Meets West and let us know what you think. We're available via voice mail at 1-866-404-CNET (2638) or via e-mail at the404 [at] cnet [dot] com. Does bad language really bother you? Does it make us juvenile? Or are we just getting lectured by padre?

Update, 3/24: An SXSW organizer contacted me to let me know that the show included 14 panelists from major labels, as well as 20 panelists from independent labels. The truth remains that I didn't see, hear, or meet any--but of course I couldn't attend every panel. I've corrected the post accordingly.

Almost a year ago, I posted about how two executives from major Web companies had taken new positions related to digital music: Douglas Merrill left Google to become EMI's president of digital operations, and Ian Rogers left Yahoo Music to become the CEO of … Read more

Roger McNamee is about to learn that nothing can ever be withdrawn from the Internet.

In an SEC filing for the ages, Palm attempted to do just that on Monday, distancing itself from comments made by Elevation Partners' McNamee--Palm's primary investor--regarding Palm's Pre smartphone and Apple's iPhone. Palm is expected to launch the Pre at some point before the end of the first half of the year, and while the company's financial backer is understandably excited, he seemed to lose all sense of perspective during an interview with Bloomberg last week.

In the interview, … Read more

I've now seen "Watchmen" twice. After my first viewing, I did not know what to think. I've been reading the original graphic novel since about 1990, and I've always wanted to see a movie based on a work that had such a powerful impact on me.

So yes, as I left the theater, I did not know what to think. What had I just seen? There was so much changed from the GN, yet so much that was translated verbatim. There were scenes I felt didn't work as well as they did in the GN; conversely, there were scenes that were executed so well, they put the novel to shame.

I did not know what to think, but I knew what I was feeling--that I'd just had a very powerful experience. A day after that first viewing, I could not wait to see it again. Last night, I finally (after three days) got my chance.

This time everything just clicked. Scenes that felt compressed during my first viewing were pitch perfect the second go-round. The first time the movie felt like a collection of scenes in (mostly) sequential order. On my second viewing I saw, plain as day, the narrative structure of the film.

And it works, on so many levels. Some levels I'm not even aware of. What I am aware of is that as an action movie, as a drama, and as a character study (of many characters) the movie just works.… Read more

If you think John and George were the only psychedelic members of the Beatles, recall that Paul wrote "Helter Skelter" (although John played that bassline) and check out some of the tracks from his first solo album, Ram. If you're still not convinced, head on over to The Fireman site and take a listen to Electric Arguments. This is Paul's second collaboration with Killing Joke producer Youth, and it's the wildest music he's made in years.

Like the recent David Byrne/Brian Eno record, Topspin Media is handling promotion and distribution for Electric Arguments, … Read more