These are the respective headquarters of Apple, Google and Palm, and collectively, they're pushing the pace of innovation for smart phones, creating a new center for mobile development and raising the bar on what consumers are coming to expect from the mini portable computers in their pocket.
Apple set the world on fire in 2007 with the iPhone, a powerful and slick mobile computer that was fun and easy to use. Google's Android operating system premiered last fall in the G1 from T-Mobile to strong reviews and will make its way onto 18 phones this year. And on June 6, Palm released the Palm Pre and its webOS, which many critics claimed was the closest competitor to the iPhone.
These companies, keep in mind, don't make the best-selling smart phone platforms; Nokia with its Symbian OS is the worldwide leader, while Research in Motion's BlackBerry OS leads in the United States. But the three valley companies, with their brand-new operating systems, are redefining the smart phone space with more intuitive interfaces, Internet integration and a focus on software that is forcing their more established rivals to scurry to catch up.
The gold standard
"Each of these organizations has raised the standard in their own individual way," said analyst J. Gerry Purdy of Frost & Sullivan, who coined the Golden Triangle term for the three companies. "Palm has multitasking and synergy, while with Android, you have a flexible and customizable user interface, and with Apple, you have a tightly integrated product. But they all have a user interface that is fluid and flexible. It's like three renditions of a piece of music expressed in different ways."
This is in contrast to competitors such as Research in Motion, Nokia and Microsoft, who all are riding legacy operating systems. The platforms have provided stable foundations for strong growth over many years but are having trouble living up to the more user-friendly and Web-intensive requirements set down by the Golden Triangle, analysts said.
In some ways, the emergence of these companies and their approaches to smart phones shouldn't be too surprising. Apple makes great hardware and software. Google is a power on the Internet, which is increasingly what these devices are all about. And Palm, despite stumbling in recent years with its aging Palm devices, has regained its sense of innovation in mobile devices, which helped put it on the map with the Palm Pilot personal digital assistants.
Full-blown computers
As smart phones have evolved from communication and e-mail devices into full blown computers, these three have drawn upon their natural strengths, learned from each other and pulled from the valley's history of software and Internet leadership to craft operating systems and devices that are becoming the new standard for smart phones.
"The minute the phones became real Internet devices, the valley took over," said Peter Yared, founder and CEO of San Francisco's Transpond, which helps companies develop applications for the Palm Pre and soon the iPhone. "When the phones were for communications and did e-mail, then a Canadian company could play. But once they moved beyond communications to computing, it's game over. The big boys are coming to take their candy away."
Andy Rubin, Google's senior director of mobile platforms, doesn't quite put it that way. But he says the latest operating systems offer a chance to build a new mobile experience from the ground up, focusing on ease of use, customization and the Internet.
"If you have a legacy operating system, you're hauling a lot of years of baggage, and that slows you down," Rubin said. "Because of rapid innovation today, you need to be agile to be on the train that's adopting the next trend of the Internet."
Rubin said a number of enabling technologies have fallen into place to make smart phones a big focus for the valley. He said improved device processing power and 3G data networks have turned the devices into powerful connected computers. And he said that bigger touch displays and better data pricing plans have opened up the opportunity for the valley to do what it does best: innovate.
"When all the pieces fall into place, the valley executes very well," he said.
While each platform is different, they share a number of similarities. They all have the ability to do multi-touch using more sensitive capacitive touch screens, they incorporate browsers built from the same WebKit technology, and they all host application stores for program downloads. And by and large, they all are simple enough to use without consulting a manual.
"At each of these places, you find a very rare individual who can look at computer interfaces and figure out how to make them work how you think they should work with a great deal of consistency and obviousness," said Ken Dulaney, an analyst with Gartner.
Playing catch-up
Nokia, Microsoft and RIM are not sitting still. Nokia started releasing touch-screen phones last fall and also formed the Symbian Foundation last year to open up the platform and encourage outside innovation. RIM started selling its first touch-screen device, the BlackBerry Storm, to mixed reviews last year and recently hired a user interface guru.
Microsoft is preparing to release phones with a new Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system, while a more robust 7.0 version is expected next year. And all three have launched or announced new mobile application stores.
"While Windows phones continue to be a popular customer choice, Microsoft is aggressively investing to make a smart phone work seamlessly with the Web and PC," said Scott Rockfeld, director of Windows Mobile.
Still, analysts believe they will have a harder time catching up to the innovation of the three valley companies. And as the iPhone, Palm Pre and Android devices win over more converts, they further tilt the marketplace in their favor.
"It's sort of a virtuous circle," said Forrester analyst Charles Golvin. "These devices appeal to audiences that are more attached to the Net and give them an experience that is better and that just accelerates this process."
