How Samsung Is Getting Its Mojo In Silicon Valley

On tree-lined University Avenue in Palo Alto, Calif., where a large sign still denotes a defunct Borders bookstore, a handful of young engineers are funneling cutting-edge software ideas to a technology behemoth in South Korea. You might not know it if you walked past, but this is the Samsung Accelerator, an 11,000-square-foot, open-plan office with many empty desks. "The Big Thing" is painted in large letters on one wall.