SPECIAL REPORT: WINNERS & LOSERS VII

Again we cast flowers and stones at a wide selection of
well- and poorly conceived technology projects, all due for
major milestones in the coming year.

Winner: Computing

Google’s Chrome operating system will capitalize on the promise of the netbook.
By Sally Adee

Loser: Automotive

The Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid car is imaginative, daring, and superb, but uneconomical.
By Philip E. Ross

Winner: Transportation

IBM helps Russian Railways reinvent the railroad’s data infrastructure.
By Sandra Upson

Loser: Computing

D-Wave Systems’ quantum computers won’t outperform ordinary ones.
By Erico Guizzo

Winner:
Computing

Pixel Qi’s dual-mode screen provides both e-paper readability and full-color video. By Joshua J. Romero

Loser:
Energy

Cellulosic ethanol— “grassoline”—is an environmental threat rather than a panacea.
By David Schneider

Winner: Lasers

NanoGaN’s gallium nitride substrates will help manufacturers make better lasers.
By Richard Stevenson

Loser:
Lithography

NanoUV’s extreme ultraviolet light source is revolutionary, but that won’t entice chipmakers to use it.
By Anne-Marie Corley

Winner:
Mobile CPU

Intrinsity's hot-rodded processor gives cellphones PC smarts.
By Mark Anderson

Loser: Security

Airport security screening will go a lot faster with a new biometric system that reads passengers’ minds. 
By Steven Cherry & Anne-Marie Corley

You Tell Us

Winners or losers? We leave it up to you to give these six items the thumbs-up or thumbs-down.
By Willie D. Jones

Where Are They Now?

SLIDESHOW We took a walk down memory lane to see what's happened to our hand-picked winners and losers.