Best Mobile Startups 2010

Necessity is the mother of invention. Never has this phrase rung more true than within the last 12 months. But to survive in this rocky economy, a startup has to do more than bring an innovative idea to fruition—it must fill a need. And that need must carry a fledgling company from prototype all the way to store shelves and consumer homes, gathering venture capital and public attention along the way. To make our list of the Best Mobile Startups for 2010, a company needs more than just the wow factor. Its product must have the potential to reshape the market that it’s entering.

As the new year kicks off, things are looking up; 65 percent of those recently surveyed by PriceWaterhouseCoopers predicted that fundraising will significantly improve or remain the same in 2010. So it’s with a growing optimism that we sought out and evaluated the most creative problem solvers to hit the mobile tech scene within the last year. And what we found both surprised and delighted.

Whether it involves making notebooks sound better, streaming complex games from the cloud, or just keeping businesses more organized, these innovators have created stand-out concepts and products worthy of attention and praise. Read on to see who made the cut.