The article sorta touches on it, smartphones really took off after the touch screen had time to be made cheaply (it may have been the catalyst for it, chicken and egg sorta thing) with Moore's law is just chugging away in the background. I think the tech revolution these companies want to be the forefront of isnt a device or program, its going to be a user interface.
Think of how the command density changed from dial pads to the first iPhone. Imagine what happens when we find a genuine inprovment for keyboards or the touch screen.