John Abell

Reuters — When Alvin Toffler popularized the term " information overload " in 1970, even that legendary futurist could not have predicted the flood of data that drowns today's road warrior. E-mails from multiple accounts, instant messages, texts, iMessage and Google Voice - and, oh yeah, phone calls - all clamor for attention from our smartphones. Enter a new solution: The smart watch. Pebble, a Kickstarter project now being delivered to its first backers, uses the power of your smartphone instead of competing with it. Pebble is still in development and a little rough around the edges, but it is the first to get the smart watch formula right.

Reuters — Three privacy stories caught my attention in the past week: 1. Google is paying a token $7 million fine for sniffing out private information as its roving Google Maps cars gathered images for Street View. 2. A new study has found that seemingly innocent disclosures on Facebook can be used to form highly accurate predictions about whether you are a genius, drug user or gay. 3. If you use certain porta-potties at the Austin, Texas, tech confab South By Southwest, passersby know if you are ... standing or sitting inside, and for how long. Is all of that what we signed up for?

Reuters — Google unleashed a snarkfest when it introduced the Chromebook Pixel. The reaction was swift and mostly merciless. "Sorry, but there's no defense for the Chromebook Pixel" claimed BGR. "Bizarre, pointless," said Bruce Berls. The Wirecutter declared: "The Chromebook Pixel is not for you." In one of the most positive receptions ZDNet's Matt Baxter-Reynolds calls it "deliberately bad" - and then goes on to give three reasons why Google was smart to release something that was "entirely illogical and unsellable." So, naturally, I had to see for myself. After using it for four days, I'm not convinced this product is ready for mass adoption.

Reuters — With "Graph Search," Facebook's new search engine announced Tuesday, the world's largest social network has finally begun to index a trove of Big Data that's been piling up for years. Even Facebook probably doesn't know what's been deposited in by its 1 billion members. Suddenly there is a way to find out. For all its popularity, Facebook has lacked something that could be described as "purpose." For co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, sharing isn't a platitude ? it's world-altering. As he once said: "By giving people the power to share, we're making the world more transparent."

Reuters — There's a lot to like about BlackBerry's new Z10 smartphone, which makes its serious shortcomings all the more disappointing. BlackBerry, formerly known as Research In Motion, has clearly paid very close attention to how other smartphone makers have thrived over the past few years as it floundered. It has spent two long years preparing for this bet-the-farm moment - and is so desperate for the new traction that could come from a fresh start that it pre-announced a phone it cannot sell in the United States until March. First, the good news: In look and feel this is a mature smartphone.

Reuters — The Federal Trade Commission Thursday dropped a two-year investigation into allegations that Google was gaming search results to drive traffic to its own sites. In a press conference, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz allowed that the charges came from a staggering number of Google's competitors, and at face value they are plausible: Google essentially controls search with something like 70 percent of the market share and, like any company with near monopoly power, might be tempted to use that advantage to slyly divert traffic away from competitors. But in a unanimous vote all five FTC commissioners agreed there was nothing to see here.

Reuters — Microsoft's Surface with Windows RT is a gorgeous device that under different circumstances might have been a gloriously unexpected mutation in the evolution of hardware. But beauty can't conceal the blemishes beneath. The promise of the Surface, and hybrids in general, is that they can credibly replace both a laptop and a tablet. Surface disappoints as either. Much of what isn't right is due to the operating system on the device. This version of Windows 8 dramatically changes the user experience by co-mingling a traditional Windows desktop with a separate universe dominated by "live" tiles that allow access to information and apps.

Reuters — Sometimes the most important ideas in tech are hiding in plain sight. In that spirit, here are three predictions for 2013 that are just waiting to happen. No 3D TVs, wearable computer or jet packs for me - at least not this year. The Kindle Offer You Can't Refuse Demand is rapidly shrinking for e-ink e-book readers. IHS iSuppli predicts that when the books close on 2012 some 15 million will have been sold - down 36 percent from 2011. And why not? Tablets are getting cheaper. Sure, you can pick up an ad-supported Kindle for as little as $70.

Reuters — You're supposed to have one when you're awaiting your orders. When you're having a baby. When you think you might need to outrun a zombie herd. Full of essentials, and a few goodies, a Go Bag is what you grab when you need to get gone, fast. The thing is, natural disasters and life-changing events aside, most of us already carry go bags, without calling them such, just to do our daily jobs and live our lives. Whether we choose a sleek shoulder bag or bulky backpack, we stock our go bags with the technology tools (and yes, toys) to get our jobs done, stay online, and maybe watch a movie or listen to a book on the commute home.

Reuters — Instagram surely didn't expect to stir up a hornet's nest with changes to its terms of service announced two days ago. But it was met with an Internet flash mob: high-profile tech writers who had adored the service abandoning it and thousands of angry words from the rest of us about what Instagram's pictures are really worth. The issue was joined with these 115 words: Some or all of the Service may be supported by advertising revenue.