50 Innovative Companies Reshape the World Around Us
If you're reading this online story, you can almost certainly appreciate the list of the 50 most innovative companies in the world as compiled by MIT's Technology Review. Many of the company names, such as Google, Amazon.com and Netflix, have become synonymous with life in the 21st century.
The Technology Review list ranges from biotech startups to social media giants, and splits the choices between public and private companies. Some companies flash their innovations out in the open, and others do their game-changing business behind the scenes.
The social network behemoth known as Facebook easily grabs a spot on the list alongside microblogging service Twitter. Lurking near Facebook is Zynga, the social game developer which creates addictive time sinks such as the popular FarmVille.
Apple earns a spot for setting standards in smartphones and tablet computing with the iPhone and iPad. So does ARM Holdings, which is redesigning such gadgets to use less power and require charging less often.
Meanwhile, IBM gets a nod for its "smarter world" effort to transform electric grids and urban infrastructure. But Akamai receives equal praise for its focus on algorithms that intelligently route Web traffic to ensure that all those cloud computing services work.
The makers of shiny stuff get a place on the list as well. Commercial spaceflight company SpaceX stands out for its private efforts to revitalize access to space, and iRobot makes its mark with its robots found on the battlefield as well as in the home.
Squishy biological science does not get left out, either. Pharmaceutical giants such as Novartis and Roche place on the list, as well as smaller startups working in cutting-edge fields like synthetic biology and genomics. One such company, Life Technologies, aims for quick, cheap DNA sequencing that could help usher in the era of personalized medicine.
Curious readers can also check out the rest of Technology Review's picks.
