Five startups out to change the world
From ultracheap laptops to ultracheap prefab housing, there's more than one way to save the planet.
By Business 2.0 Magazine staff

SAN FRANCISCO (Business 2.0 Magazine) - The staff of Business 2.0 recently fanned out across Silicon Valley, scouring office parks for inventive startups with big plans. We turned up dozens of intriguing new ventures, and then narrowed down the list to the five best.

There's San Jose's Neurosky, which tracks your thoughts closely enough that you'll be able to play videogames just by thinking about fragging a zombie. Nearby, BrighTex Photonics is developing a scanner that can show where your face is suffering invisible UV damage, wrinkles, and clogged pores.

Photo GallerylaunchSee more photos

In Palo Alto, Global Homes International is slashing the cost of prefab homes, while Ambarella in Sunnyvale, Calif., is preparing chips that will bring high-definition TV to all kinds of gadgets, not just flat-screen TVs.

Finally, there's Project Inkwell, a consortium backed by Intel (Research), Microsoft (Research), Sandisk (Research), and others, which is introducing a $300 laptop for students.

The common thread? There's no shortage of inventiveness in the Valley -- and there are dreamers aplenty who hope to do well by doing good.

For a photo gallery of these inventions, click here.

To read about a car that could save the planet—fast, click here. Top of page

To send a letter to the editor about this story, click here.

YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
Follow the news that matters to you. Create your own alert to be notified on topics you're interested in.

Or, visit Popular Alerts for suggestions.
Manage alerts | What is this?

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.