A manufacturing process ­specifically designed for smart-phone and tablet processors will produce chips that increase computing performance without ­guzzling power.

It is reducing the cost of utility-­scale photovoltaic installations.

Its high-efficiency gallium arsenide–based solar cells provide a way to lower the cost of solar power.

The Siri virtual assistant built into the iPhone 4S demonstrates a new kind of conversational voice-operated interface.

A key supplier of equipment for making solar cells, it is helping to lower the cost of solar power.

Its new infrastructure extends the effective range of electric vehicles.

New sequencing projects that the company announced in 2011 include one aimed at predicting preterm births and another that will sequence cancer genomes.

Speeding up production of digitally animated movies will also benefit gaming and augmented reality.

Its technology makes it easier for users to sync and share files on smart phones, laptops, and desktops.

The social network has become the means by which many online users communicate, get news, and find entertainment.

Despite its lukewarm performance in social media, Google’s willingness to move into new areas shows it can still be an agenda-setter.

Has reinvented ­transistor architecture as it continues to shrink the size of devices on a chip.

Lowering the cost of DNA sequencing opens the door to more genetically targeted treatments and diagnostics.

By using virtual computer networks rather than hardwired systems to connect cloud servers, it could make the cloud more secure and reliable.

Allows users to access applications too powerful for their hardware to support.

Its three-dimensional artificial tissue structures can be used for drug testing and are likely to find therapeutic applications.

Its software can extract common threads from mountains of data, potentially yielding leads for intelligence agencies and police forces.

The Mirasol display for mobile devices provides full color even in bright sunlight and uses a fraction as much power as today’s phone and tablet displays.

Its catalytic process is able to convert cheap and abundant natural gas into ethylene, a commodity chemical used to make plastic.

Managing natural resources, planning humanitarian ­missions, and assessing construction projects could all become easier thanks to Skybox’s satellites, which will take more frequent images at lower cost.

Its spacecraft and rockets could replace expensive government vehicles as a way into orbit.

Small businesses benefit from its simple mobile payment system.

Its processors combine the flexibility of software with the efficiency of hardware.

Microblogging has become a ubiquitous adjunct to major events, from earthquakes to revolutions.

Has used high-speed methods to find materials that improve the performance of batteries.

Social gaming has dramatically expanded the demographic appeal of computer games and created new business models for game companies.

Makes fuel and chemicals from the carbon monoxide produced by processes such as steelmaking.

Its systems help doctors and patients with the morass of medical records and billing paperwork.

It mines social-media sites to gauge the audience response to television shows and advertising.

Its new diagnostics exploit a growing understanding of the molecular basis of cancer.

By building flexible and efficient natural-gas power plants, GE is making it easier for utilities to use intermittent sources of renewable energy.

Online social connections and shared data offer a new way to improve the understanding and treatment of disease.

WiTricity is making it more convenient to charge electric cars.

Its high-energy batteries, which will first appear in consumer devices, could make electric cars cheaper and improve their range.

Its flexible artificial-­intelligence systems have the potential to assist people in many areas, such as health care.

By reducing the cost of diagnostic tests, it has allowed the monitoring of more disease markers.

Using human iPS cells in drug screening could accelerate the development of new therapies.

Using lightweight parts will decrease the fuel consumption of the company’s aircraft and make its satellites cheaper to launch.

By building flexible and efficient natural-gas power plants, GE is making it easier for utilities to use intermittent sources of renewable energy.

Has developed a low-cost way of making better silicon solar cells.

Has created a cellular network that can cope with our growing appetite for mobile data.

Its cheaper turbines and installation techniques will make offshore wind plants more affordable.

It is using telemedicine techniques to deliver health care to rural India.

Has deployed mobile health services over Kenya’s cellular network.

Samsung is an increasingly major player in consumer electronics, from iPhone components to new phones, tablets, and OLED TVs; it was the world’s top seller of smart phones in 2011.

Its new drugs target genetic mutations in cancer cells.

It has learned to exploit oil resources that were previously impractical to tap.

By reducing the electricity demands of data centers, ARM is making cloud computing cheaper.

Its digital music subscription service has succeeded where others have failed or had only lackluster results.

The company is developing cheaper nuclear reactors.