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GMail now tells you with timestamps (a) what kind of thing (browser, IMAP client, etc) accessed your email (b) when it happened, and (c) what the IP address was. The only thing lacking is a log of what content precisely was downloaded. So finally Google has solved the “is my significant other spying on me” or “do my parents secretly read my email” questions.

The lovely people at ImageThink drew an illustrated version of each presenter’s main points in realtime. It’s pretty cool, so I’ll paste here as well (click for big):

So onto the Swag! Tons of free stuff (disclosure) that I shall write about, in relative order of cuteness and utility.

Idea Paint

With Idea Paint you can instantly turn any flat surface into a durable whiteboard for dry erase markers. It’s pretty cool, actually–at the event, they painted two mannequins with IdeaPaint and proceeded to diagram them in dry-erase!

We got a free 50 sq foot sample to play with: I’m thinking of painting either my desk surface or the back of my iPhone with it.

Switch2Health (S2H)

While Switch 2 Health had no product available yet (they’re being manufactured as we speak, and we’ve been promised units when they launch), they are by far one of the most socially conscious startups who presented. The goal of S2H is to incentivize higher rates of physical activity among children, as a way to help stave off the obesity epidemic. Children wear wristbands that measure their activity level (they also function as watches, so you can wear them all the time), and then login to the website to redeem points for ringtones, movies, etc.

Baggu!

The BAGGU reusable shopping bag folds up into a tidy package, small and light enough to fit into a pocket, but rolls out to a strong, durable, and voluminous bag! It’s perfect for shopping or carrying textbooks, and stylish to boot.

Baggu Bags also have their own shop

iChill / Bruise Relief / Wallet Pill Card

So I’m sitting here with three product samples, the iChill sleeping draught (2oz shot) (x1), bruise relief cream (x3) for beat-down bodies, and the Re-Pillable Wallet Pill Card (x2):

Bruise Relief Serum and Re-Pillable Cards on Amazon

The iChill is a blend of Melatonin (5mg), Valerian Root (10mg), Rose Hips (10g) and B Vitamins (2-20mcg), and has not been FDA evaluated. Non active ingredients include Purified water, Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate (preservative), Potassium Benzoate (preservative), and Stevia Brand Sweetener. I’m going to try it this weekend, but I can guarantee it will knock you out given the high concentration of melatonin (1mg does me in @ 150 lbs).

The Buzz Killer

We got a free card which cures GSM buzz, courtesy of The Buzz Killers. The card itself is really pretty! Unfortunately, I have an iPhone 3GS and on the 3G network there’s no GSM interference. Perhaps the next time I visit Somalia and have to work with a crappy GSM network I can test this out. (PS: See the orange in this map? That’s the future, and it’s buzz free…)

At just $5.99 they make great office gifts / stocking stuffers

Altec Lansing Orbit

I have a problem with these little speakers–they’re just not that great. I’d much rather put on a pair of in-ear noise-isolating–but cheap–Shure headphones than blare distorted mono music through an external monopod speaker. The Altec Lansing iM-237 just doesn’t sound good.

Altec Lansing iM-237 Orbit Ultraportable Speaker for MP3 Players (Silver)

Another problem is that this thing comes in a TON of packaging, with lots of useless parts (case, ribbon, u-clip, audible free trial card, manual, other ads, etc). I was also disappoint that the speaker doesn’t come with batteries out of the box. It would be nice to finally have a portable speaker with a built-in battery so you can stop chewing through AAA batteries.

mSpot Movies

Also, if you visit m.Mspot.com on a mobile browser, they have a new streaming movies service. The presenter said they are going live across 30 handsets (iPhone, Pre, etc) over EDGE, WIFI, or 3G. It’s essentially movies on demand; we get to try two movie rentals ($5 each) out.

mSpot’s groundbreaking movie services deliver full-length feature films, TV, concerts and comedy specials through subscription, “on-demand,” and pay-per-view models. mSpot makes the mobile movie magic happen with box-office hits and timeless favorites from Buena Vista VOD, Lionsgate, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Universal Pictures.

I’m a bit “meh” about movies on demand. First, I can buy a movie on iTunes, download it and sync it in <5 minutes already. I can do this with a single click as I have an iTunes account and use it to buy music. I know the iTunes movies are in great quality, and their selection has many new releases. So, I don’t see mSpot as being competitive unless they offer subscription pricing and a bigger catalogue. And don’t even get me started on NetFlix, who is in the streaming space too…

Books & Movies

Finally we got a couple of books and movies. Can’t review them yet, but I’m looking forward to checking them out:

The answer is no: Media Temple (MT) is pretty reliable. When I say pretty, here are some numbers from Pingdom, via their new free service:

Checks with downtime
Check name Uptime Downtime Outages Response time
Wordpress 99.55% 3h 14m 52s 10 672 ms

This meant approximately 200 visitors would have missed out on my website–not a bad amount of downtime at all. However, this is just one month, and we’ll have to see if anything particularly disastrous shall happen in the future. I’ll keep you all posted!

Update: here are stats for August:

Check name Uptime Downtime Outages Response time
Wordpress 99.92% 0h 34m 57s 6 905 ms

Update: here are stats for September:

Check name Uptime Downtime Outages Response time
Wordpress 99.77% 1h 34m 36s 14 981 ms

Update: here are stats for October:

Check name Uptime Downtime Outages Response time
Wordpress 99.50% 3h 39m 28s 15 582 ms

So far YTD my uptime is 99.69%, according to Pingdom.

I’m not alone, check out the Excessive Packaging category on Sustainable Is Good. Fortunately, Amazon is starting a Frustration-Free Packaging initiative which aims to “determine the “right-sized” box for any given item to be shipped to a customer, based on that item’s dimensions and weight.” You can also leave packaging feedback, something I’ve just done.

What TechCrunch is trying to do is create a 4x larger version of the iPhone centered around the browsing experience. To do this they need three things: a good price point, intuitive user interface, and beautiful industrial design. They’ve made good progress, but they are clearly not there yet; $299 is extremely close to the full-featured HP 2133-KX869AT 8.9-inch Mini-Note PC (C7-M 1.2 GHz Processor, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB Hard Drive, Linux) for $350. Consumers would probably rather buy a netbook–miniature notebook–than a browser-tablet at the $300 price point.

To improve their price, the TechCrunch team needs to throw away all components adding cost–the external ports, the webcam, and anything else that gets in the way. They’ll have to aggressively negotiate manufacturing contracts. But, if they can hit their original $200 target, they’ll have a winner.

The next ingredient is the killer UI. That’s what made the iPhone into an overnight hit, something Gizmodo reader KVirtanen noted:

Simply think through everything. Make it look and work like it’s worth over 300$ and people will be all over it. Listen to your potential customers when making decisions. Make it so that it almost slips on to your hands and your fingers just automatically finds the on-screen buttons (and maybe also some physical ones). Let people with good eye comment on the design.

This way it’ll be a long-lasting tool, not something you’ll end up replacing after you get fed up with the way it works or after it breaks.

Finally, the design of the case in prototype B sucks. It’s thick and unwieldy. Mike says that “It’s about twice as thick as is needs to be without further engineering – we just built in a safety thickness in case of heat or other issues.” Getting it down to .7″ thick and removing much of the unnecessary border around the screen will go a long way to making it consumer friendly. From the screens, it also looks like the bezel rides quite a bit higher than the screen surface. The iPhone face is one smooth surface, something that make it feel like a quality product a person would want to own.

If prototype C can be profitable at $200, throws away all the components not central to the TC Tablet’s mission, has a great user interface, and looks 100000x sexier than prototype B, I’ll be willing to revisit this headline. Otherwise, competing with the netbooks, it’s doomed.