50 Smartest Companies 2012
- 8 years22
Why
Its flexible artificial-intelligence systems have the potential to assist people in many areas, such as health care.Company Details - 7 years41
Why
Its spacecraft and rockets could replace expensive government vehicles as a way into orbit.Company Details - 6 years3
Why
The Siri virtual assistant built into the iPhone 4S demonstrates a new kind of conversational voice-operated interface.Company Details - 6 years15
Why
The social network has become the means by which many online users communicate, get news, and find entertainment.Company Details - 6 years20
Why
Despite its lukewarm performance in social media, Google’s willingness to move into new areas shows it can still be an agenda-setter.Company Details - 5 years16
- 5 years24
Why
Has reinvented transistor architecture as it continues to shrink the size of devices on a chip.Company Details - 4 years18
Why
By building flexible and efficient natural-gas power plants, GE is making it easier for utilities to use intermittent sources of renewable energy.Company Details - 4 years37
Why
Its cheaper turbines and installation techniques will make offshore wind plants more affordable.Company Details - 4 years43
- 3 years4
Why
A key supplier of equipment for making solar cells, it is helping to lower the cost of solar power.Company Details - 3 years5
Why
By reducing the electricity demands of data centers, ARM is making cloud computing cheaper.Company Details - 3 years11
Why
New sequencing projects that the company announced in 2011 include one aimed at predicting preterm births and another that will sequence cancer genomes.Company Details - 3 years36
Why
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.Company Details - 3 years44
- 3 years47
Why
Microblogging has become a ubiquitous adjunct to major events, from earthquakes to revolutions.Company Details - 3 years50
Why
Social gaming has dramatically expanded the demographic appeal of computer games and created new business models for game companies.Company Details - 2 years2
Why
Its high-efficiency gallium arsenide–based solar cells provide a way to lower the cost of solar power.Company Details - 2 years6
Why
Its systems help doctors and patients with the morass of medical records and billing paperwork.Company Details - 2 years10
Why
Using human iPS cells in drug screening could accelerate the development of new therapies.Company Details - 2 years13
Why
Its technology makes it easier for users to sync and share files on smart phones, laptops, and desktops.Company Details - 2 years17
Why
Its new diagnostics exploit a growing understanding of the molecular basis of cancer.Company Details - 2 years19
Why
By building flexible and efficient natural-gas power plants, GE is making it easier for utilities to use intermittent sources of renewable energy.Company Details - 2 years26
Why
Lowering the cost of DNA sequencing opens the door to more genetically targeted treatments and diagnostics.Company Details - 2 years32
Why
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.Company Details - 2 years33
- 2 years34
- 2 years35
Why
Its high-energy batteries, which will first appear in consumer devices, could make electric cars cheaper and improve their range.Company Details - 1 years1
Why
Has created a cellular network that can cope with our growing appetite for mobile data.Company Details - 1 years7
- 1 years8
- 1 years9
Why
It mines social-media sites to gauge the audience response to television shows and advertising.Company Details - 1 years12
Why
Speeding up production of digitally animated movies will also benefit gaming and augmented reality.Company Details - 1 years14
Why
Using lightweight parts will decrease the fuel consumption of the company’s aircraft and make its satellites cheaper to launch.Company Details - 1 years21
- 1 years23
Why
By reducing the cost of diagnostic tests, it has allowed the monitoring of more disease markers.Company Details - 1 years25
Why
Makes fuel and chemicals from the carbon monoxide produced by processes such as steelmaking.Company Details - 1 years27
Why
By using virtual computer networks rather than hardwired systems to connect cloud servers, it could make the cloud more secure and reliable.Company Details - 1 years28
- 1 years29
Why
Its three-dimensional artificial tissue structures can be used for drug testing and are likely to find therapeutic applications.Company Details - 1 years30
Why
Its software can extract common threads from mountains of data, potentially yielding leads for intelligence agencies and police forces.Company Details - 1 years31
Why
Online social connections and shared data offer a new way to improve the understanding and treatment of disease.Company Details - 1 years39
- 1 years38
Why
Its catalytic process is able to convert cheap and abundant natural gas into ethylene, a commodity chemical used to make plastic.Company Details - 1 years40
Why
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.Company Details - 1 years42
Why
Its digital music subscription service has succeeded where others have failed or had only lackluster results.Company Details - 1 years45
Why
Its processors combine the flexibility of software with the efficiency of hardware.Company Details - 1 years46
Why
A manufacturing process specifically designed for smart-phone and tablet processors will produce chips that increase computing performance without guzzling power.Company Details - 1 years48
Why
Has used high-speed methods to find materials that improve the performance of batteries.Company Details - 1 years49