COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2008 Contest Honors Innovative Designs in ICT Sector
2008/06/17 | By Quincy LiangSetting up a hurdle as a way to bring together the best in the industry to vie for one of the newest honors in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector is the COMPUTEX TAIPEI Design & Innovation Award 2008, the latest addition to the 28th Taipei International Information Technology (COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2008), the global top-two and Asia's largest ICT trade exhibition, the show organizer Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) has invited the standard-bearing International Forum Design (iF) of Germany to judge the first-ever contest to encourage innovation and design, as well as select products that strike optimal balance between innovative design, R&D and manufacturing. The competition aims to showcase the fruits of labor made by the local ICT sector as it combines its solid R&D background and spirit of innovation and design.
Saluting Great Brains & Design
"We are happy to support COMPUTEX TAIPEI with our 'organized by iF' services," stated Ralph Wiegmann, managing director of iF. "We have set high standards for this design & innovation award. Thanks to the hard work of the panels of judges, and their critical and professional evaluation, the overall conclusions drawn are very positive and persuasive."
"While the world moves into the digital era of the 21st century, Taiwan has been playing a major role in the global technology industry by offering strong research, development and manufacturing capabilities," Wiegmann said. "Various global design awards, including iF Awards, presented by Taiwanese technology companies in recent years have proven the island has enhanced its capability toward design, rather than just research, development, and manufacture. Such progress has inspired iF, an organization that aims to be an international service provider intersecting the field of design and industry, providing a showcase for the latest developments and trends, to offer its essential service to help highlight with global recognition the finest work from the Taiwan ICT industry that is backed by decades of experience."
High Threshold
To be short-listed as one of the 17 finalists, from which four were chosen for Gold Award winners, however, is a tough contest: 139 products were critically reviewed by international experts in the following 6 product categories-Communication Products, Components & Parts, Computer systems, Peripherals, Data Storage Device/Media, and Optoelectronic Display Product and Digital Audio /Video.
And the decisive criteria considered include the degree of innovation, design quality, workmanship, choice of materials, environmental friendliness, functionality, ergonomics, utility value, safety, universal design and brand value/branding.
The panel of international judges included Christoph Boninger (brains4design GmbH); Duck Hsieh (Duck Image Corp.); James Irvine (James Irvine S.r.l.); Kris Verstockt (Cre8 design studio); and Roger Lin (Nova Design Co., Ltd.).
Gold Award Winners
Entry: OpenBook
Category: 03 Computer systems
Company/manufacturer: VIA Technologies Inc.
Design: VIA Technologies, Inc.
The device is recognized for having been well thought out, its design-driven forms and use of materials. A nice balance exists between the hinges and main housing that is further accentuated with the right choice of materials and colors, all of which is complemented by its clean lines.
Entry: Asus UF735
Category: 04 Peripherals
Company/manufacturer: AsusTek Computer Inc.
Design: AsusTek Computer Inc.
The front bezel is of aluminum plate with speaker-grille of a fine web so picturing viewing is undistracted. The back uses a swivel and button combination that generates a high-tech and high end feel. The Asus UF735 is a wonderful, almost poetic picture frame for showing digital photos with music. The simple and easy to operate interface is self explanatory and needs no manuals.
Entry: Dino-Lite
Category: 04 Peripherals
Company/manufacturer: AnMo Electronics Corp.
Design: AnMo Electronics Corp.
The Dino-Lite digital microscope wins an award for striking a nice balance between innovation, ergonomics and use of materials. A metal-plate housing is complemented with a large metal scroll wheel, positioned correctly, which is as practical as convenient.
This is a microscope featuring good configuration, multi-functional potential for educational, medical and various other fields.
Entry: Swing Duo
Category: 05 Data Storage Device/Media
Company/manufacturer: Starline International Group Ltd.
Design: Mindsailors, Starline Polska Sp. z o.o.
The Swing Duo USB flash drive captures extra recognition for managing to be innovative while staying minimalist. The flash drive housing doubles as its cover, with the hinge providing tactile feedback and accommodating a strap; while the unit has no easily misplaced loose parts.
Other Prizewinners
Aspire Gemstone Blue Notebook
Company: Acer Inc.
Design: Acer Inc.
Acer's 2008 Aspire Gemstone Blue notebooks are a multimedia sensation with superb style. Up to five built-in speakers and an innovative tube-type subwoofer create the world's first notebook to trumpet true 5.1-channel surround sound, while a 16:9 FHD display provides an amazing cinematic experience.
Asus Ares CG6155 Gaming Desktop PC
Company: AsusTek Computer Inc.
Design: AsusTek Computer Inc.
Ares has been designed from the ground up as the ultimate gaming desktop. Combining upgradeable performance architecture with an exciting new identity for gaming PCs and inspired by ancient Trojan, Japanese masks and modern composite armor, the design team sought to visually emphasize ARES security features.
Asus U2E Notebook
Company: AsusTek Computer Inc.
Design: AsusTek Computer Inc.
The U2E is designed and crafted to deliver the highest level of luxury in a notebook, presenting itself as a bona fide lifestyle accessory that is infinitely useful and versatile. The luxurious package extends to the notebook chassis, where its unity of form and function is showcased with the screen and keyboard designed to join seamlessly at the polished hinge-showing its cufflink-inspired design.
CloudBook Max UMPC
Company: VIA Technologies Inc.
Design: VIA Technologies Inc.
This stylish mini-note is an UMPC with 8.9-inch LED TFT-LCD. The concept behind the CloudBook is to provide convenience and connectivity; while the name CloudBook arises from its silky exterior that resembles clouds in the sky. Plus the battery pack as well as the hinge are designed to deliver a trim package-achieving an overall slim and light feel.
iXoft Notebook Cooling Pad
Company: Thermaltake Technology Co., Ltd.
Design: Thermaltake Technology Co., Ltd.
Although designed to cool notebook PCs, this product has an innovative thermal-based phase-change feature: its patented Heat Shift Technology aptly sums up the phase change material in the cooling pad, which stays cold and solid when unused but transforms into liquid form when dissipating heat away from the heat source. The iXoft weighs only 650g and is easily folded for transportation and storage.
Mio Leap G50 GPS Phone
Company: Mitac International
Design: Mitac International
The dual-sided design of the Mio Leap G50 is an all-in-one (GPS, PDA, phone and camera) device. It is a sleek and compact phone targeted at the business professional. Users can switch back and forth between the two functions with a simple flick of a switch. Its flat touch screen is a traditional PND/PDA device with a sleek mirror design, on the back of which is a phone.
Mio Moov 380 GPS + Connected Device
Company: Mitac International
Design: Mitac International
Mio Moov 380 is a PND with a connected and integrated GPS function, which is especially appealing to drivers. Offering 2.5G GSM communication, its flat touch panel function helps to improve traffic safety. Users can update content and service data directly from the server operator, downloading wanted information; while its 12.4 mm thickness makes its highly portable.
Mio Leap K1 Mio GPS Phone
Company: Mitac International
Design: Mitac International
Mio Leap K1 is an all-in-one GPS device with standard phone and camera functions. It is the first dual-sided GPS phone on the market with twin displays. On one side is an elegant feature phone and the other a flat-panel GPS, which can be used for car or pedestrian navigation.
Nobility Series N702 USB Flash Drive
Company: A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd.
Design: A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd.
A-DATA combines avant-garde design with exquisite craftsmanship to deliver the N702 as a perfect interpretation of modern technology. With the external design of the N702 shaped like a cut diamond, this device has an unique, totally-hidden 180-degree rotary USB connector to make this flash drive a fashionable accessory.
PVS32G1866LLK PC DDR3 Memory Modules
Company: Patriot Memory
Design: Patriot Memory
Patriot Extreme Performance (EP) Low Latency line is engineered to expand gaming options. These modules are designed to operate at 1866MHz at 8-8-8-24 timings and available in 2GB kit capacity. Equipped with Patriot Viper Heat Shields with integrated ACC (Aluminum Copper Composite) technology, these modules are designed for maximum performance and stability under extreme over-clocking conditions.
SI-7908 / 7928 SATA HDD docking station
Company: SSI Computer Corp.
Design: SSI Computer Corp.
SI-7908 series SATA HDD Stage Rack is compatible with PC and Mac systems. It provides USB, eSATA and 1394 different interfaces, which can cater to different purposes and needs. It is compact in size and comes with a 12V/2A adaptor. With a simple desktop cradle plug-in, no tool is required for usage.
Twist-a-cable Unique Memory Cable Technology
Company: Sonnenschein Ind. Co., Ltd.
Design: Sonnenschein Ind. Co., Ltd.
The concept behind the "Twist-a-Cable" is to build cables that can be bent, turned, twisted and squeezed to stay in such position, hence the memory cable technology, without compromising cable performance. This product is ideal where users are handling many cables and wish to route cables, easily, systematically and orderly.
V8 Cooler CPU cooler
Company: Cooler Master Co., Ltd.
Design: Cooler Master Co., Ltd.
Cooler Master succeeds in living up to the product label by designing American muscle-car cooling power into the V8 Cooler, supplying sufficient heat dissipating power to chill any high-performance CPU on the market, with a steroid-grown exterior design bound to raise the eyebrows of any enthusiast crowd.
