1. Google
For changing the way we view the world (and TV).
The $350 billion massive has proven that it is working in both the
short and long term to change consumers' lives through hardware. Its clever
(and really cheap) dongle, Chrome cast, lets users beam
web video to their TV screens, while
Google Glass brings the ultimate
possibilities of
wearable computing--and all those '90s
sci-fi action movies--to life. Its $3 billion achievement of
smart thermostat maker Nest provided a
suspicion that Google might eventually bring homes to life, as well.
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2. Xiaomi
For using sharp marketing to become China's biggest smartphone maker in just
three years.
While disbelievers point to the Apple-like cult image CEO Lei Jun
portrays (he even wears the Jobs-ques outfit of dark shirts and jeans),
Xiaoping also poached Hugo Barra, Google's VP of
Android product management, to help the
company expand its influence overseas. Its products are as in demand as
Apple's, selling out its newest phone, the Red Rice, in less than 90 seconds
and piling up more than 7 million preorders, leading to more than $5 billion in
revenue in 2013.
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3. Apple
For reigniting customer passion by transforming its mobile OS and desktop.
Besides flattening things out with the beautiful iOS 7 and
constructing an ultra-powerful tank of a computer in the reshaped Mac Pro, the
king of Cupertino also broke its sales records with the iPhone 5s and 5c--more
than 9 million flew off shelves during its first weekend--and brought
ultra-lightweight design to the standard-setting i Pad Air. But perhaps its
greatest achievement in invention wasn't its devices, but rather the device
controls: The iPhone 5s's fingerprint sensor adds yet another degree of
accessibility (and purchase point) to its most
coveted product.
4. Amazon
For turning tech support upside down.
With its Kindle Fire HDX,
Amazon not only created a true i Pad
competitor, it potentially revolutionized customer support. The Mayday feature
on the Kindle Fire HDX allows device owners to connect to an on-screen
representative in less than 15 seconds, further sharpening Amazon's renowned
and relentless focus on customers.
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5. GoPro
For cracking the mainstream by courting action junkies everywhere.
The action-driven camera company needy its tiny, nearly immortal, Hero
cameras onto just about anything and anyone, including an eagle or two. By
putting its HD cameras in the hands of athletes, adventurers, and risk-takers,
GoPro sales grew to nearly $1 billion in 2013. The company also built out its
app, allowing users to seamlessly share their videos with others--just as the
marketing-savvy company would like them to--and began a partnership with
Microsoft to bring an action-sports channel to the Xbox this spring.
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6. Leap Motion
For letting users sculpt, sketch, and play with the wave of a hand.
While we've yet to see truly
radical motion-control technology,
Leap Motion, which officially launched last summer, is leading the pack in
getting us there. With a tiny
flash drive–size controller that costs
just $80 and tracks a finger's movement within 1/100 of a millimeter, the
company has already become an authority on gesture control in the
consumer-electronics space, snatching
up partners like HP and ASUS to incorporate its tech into their laptops. But
Leap Motion's Airspace store--where creative apps like DRUM air (for the
wannabe rocker) and Free form (for the hopeful sculptor) abound--is where the
real innovation is revealed.
7. Sony
For listening to fans when creating its sleekest, most powerful console
yet.
The next-gen console war found its fighters in the PS4 and Xbox One. Amid
criticism of its rival being too heavy on the entertainment (and too lean on
gaming), Sony released the PlayStation 4 with new sharing and multitasking
features--along with a price tag $100 cheaper than the competition. More than 4
million customers chose Sony as the victor.
Sony
8. LEGO
For changing the definition of "play."
These blocks aren't just for kids. Last year, Lego released Mind
storms EV3, its smartest line of robotic creatures yet. As a reward for boldly
placing tech like
Linux and infrared sensors in the
hands of both youngsters and adult fan boys, EV3 has become one the company's
fastest-selling lines, and thanks to a partnership with the nonprofit FIRST,
roughly 350,000 students in 70 countries are now learning robotics from
programmable toys like SPIK3R and R3PTAR.
9. IRobot
For reinventing the vacuum (again) and tackling mopping too.
IRobot upgraded its Roomba and Scooby lines--the vacuum that sponges
and brushes the floor. But the company also introduced households to the Brava:
a floor-mopping robot that uses recyclable or disposable microfiber clothes to
make quick work of dirty floors. Its commitment to invention--and its smart
foray into security and military work--helped iRobot's revenue climb by roughly
$50 million in 2013 to almost $500 million, while its stock surged 85%. Those
are some serious bots.
Read more >>
10. Robotic
For rolling out new robotic toys that dart between the digital and the
physical.
Sphero the robotic ball is so additively fun, even President Obama has taken
it for a spin. But last year, the Boulder, Colorado–based Robotic wowed kids
and geeks everywhere again with the Sphero 2.0, an upgraded,
smartphone-controlled orb that moves twice as fast and has double the
Bluetooth range as the original. The
Sphero 2.0, which interacts with almost 30 smartphone apps that treat physical
objects and digital obstacles, helped Robotic more than double its revenue in
2013. Not one to be immovable in one form factor, Robotic evolved (again) in
January and announced the
Sphero 2B: a tubular, two-tiered robot that can
tumble across rough terrain and leap from steep inclines.
