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Magazine

Inventing New Technologies and Markets

March 2011

Our second annual list of the world’s most innovative technology companies highlights businesses whose work is changing industries and lives.

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Letter from the editor

Is WikiLeaks a Good Thing?

Features

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The New Money
Square, founded by the creator of Twitter, lets people accept credit cards with their smart phones. That innovation could transform transactions in surprising ways.
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Praying for an Energy Miracle
Every clean-tech startup these days claims to have a breakthrough that will finally make renewable and clean energy sources cheap enough to compete with fossil fuels. But are we really on the brink of a clean-energy economy?
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The Slow-Motion Internet
Google’s growth plans depend in part on whether it can make the entire Web faster.

Also in this issue
- Letters and Comments
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- World of Ideas
  Some countries generate more inventions than their economic stature might indicate.
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- Curbing Carbon
  New energy technologies need the support of sound economic policy to prevent further damage to our climate.
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- Users Rule
  Novel products that create new markets often emerge from pioneering user inventions.
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- Web Wins
  Web apps can displace all other forms of software if browser and Web technology continue to improve.
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- Building Batteries for Electric Cars
  A123’s new factory exploits automation and advances in nanotechnology.
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- Technology Commercialized
  Glass-free 3D gaming, smart oven, high-definition Wi-Fi, GPS-equipped ski goggles, portable foldable solar panels, and more.
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- Jonathan Rothberg
  The founder of Ion Torrent says his DNA-sequencing technology will revolutionize genomics the way the microprocessor transformed computing.
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- British Sea Power
  See the construction of one of the world’s largest offshore wind farms off the coast of England.
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- Private Spaceflight
  Companies have made impressive technical progress, but are there enough customers?
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- Transparency and Secrets
  WikiLeaks wants to undermine states and corporations by interfering with their ability to “think.” It may not survive, but its innovations will be imitated.
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- How to Stop the Snoopers
  Getting advertisers to quit tracking you may be harder than you think.
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- It’s Good to Be the Mayor
  Foursquare and other location-based social games on mobile phones can be compelling, but only when they harness the energy of countless offline games we’re already playing.
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- Arduino Uno
  How a cheap microcontroller is making it possible for anyone to design and build hardware.
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- Light Chips
  Combining optical and electrical circuits should speed supercomputers.
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- Graphene Electrodes for Hybrids
  Atom-thick sheets of carbon make high-energy capacitors.
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- Drug-Resistant Cancers
  Scientists discover how some tumors become immune to medications.
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- Digital Watches and Pet Rocks
  The long-term value of an innovation often doesn’t become apparent until it has gone through many product cycles—including buggy versions that annoy early adopters.
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