Press Release

Taipei / Hannover, 30 May 2011

”Many high quality products marked out by excellent “: five of the 42 winners at the COMPUTEX TAIPEI design & innovation awards 2011 have received their gold awards.

”Overall, we are impressed and delighted that we saw many high quality products marked out by excellent design“, concluded the expert jury of the COMPUTEX TAIPEI design & innovation awards 2011. From a total of 179 entries from six countries, 42 passed the jury assessment and received a COMPUTEX TAIPEI design & innovation award 2011. The five best and most innovative of these were honored with the coveted COMPUTEX TAIPEI Gold Award for outstanding achievements in design. ”We are convinced that all the award-winning products are successfully getting their own specific message across to the users. The are also becoming stronger and are developing to meet the expectations of 3C and the IT industry“, says the jury.

One day before the official trade fair opening, on 30 May 2011, the 42 award winners were announced at a press conference. The 5 gold award winners were only revealed on 31 May 2011, the opening day of the COMPUTEX TAIPEI trade fair, where they received their trophies during the awards ceremony.

All award-winning entries will be on show in a public exhibition at COMPUTEX TAIPEI taking place from 31 May 2011 until 4 June 2011. The iF online exhibition and the special documentation of the COMPUTEX TAIPEI design & innovation awards 2011 featuring all award winners will round off the competition.

The COMPUTEX TAIPEI design & innovation awards are made possible by the cooperation between TAITRA and iF International Forum Design as part of their ʻorganized by iFʼ projects. This is the fourth time that the COMPUTEX TAIPEI design & innovation awards has been held. As Asiaʼs largest specialist IT trade fair, COMPUTEX TAIPEI offers an excellent platform to present outstanding design achievements and technical innovations.

Categories and assessment criteria at a glance:

The expert jury evaluated the entries to the COMPUTEX TAIPEI design & innovation awards 2011 in the following seven categories:

01. WiMAX + Communication Products

02. Components + Parts

03. Computers + Systems

04. Data Storage Products

05. Displays + Digital Audio / Video Products

06. Peripherals + Accessories

07. Gaming + Entertaining Products

The assessment criteria for the entries in the various categories included degree of innovation, design quality, workmanship, choice of materials, environmental

friendliness, functionality, utility value, safety, ergonomics, and product identity / branding.

Jury statements for the five COMPUTEX TAIPEI Gold Awards 2011:

Entry: Slide | iPad Stand Category: 06. Peripherals + Accessories Company: Just Mobile Ltd., TAIWAN Design: Claus Jensen, Henrik Holbaek, Tools Design, DENMARK

Natural and simple, functional and esthetic: itʼs excellent that the has dared to use a simple structure for this type of product, the iPad stand, the state-of-the-art digital device. The productʼs merchantability is enhanced solely by the material feature and product shape, which makes the design excellence all the more amazing. Overall, it is a very intelligent and esthetic design solution that solves mobility aspects in conjunction with usability requirements in such a minimalist . It is one of the top iPad stand designs on the market: ordinary yet extraordinary.

Entry: LM4-55A - Wow MOUNT | Low Profile TV Mounts Category: 02. Components + Parts Company: U.S. Brown Bear Inc., TAIWAN Design: U.S. Brown Bear Inc., TAIWAN

You can see the designerʼs thoughtfulness in user experience: the idea that the design not only exists to create a physical object, but also considers communication and user experience is fully expressed and delivered through this product. The design distinguishes this high-quality product, offering excellent communication and high value, regardless of the inexpensiveness of the material. The product perfectly combines packaging and installation and therefore is an excellent example of its type. We were so carried away by this extraordinarily novel idea and truly feel this design deserves a round of applause. Itʼs like a breath of fresh air!

Entry: Caparo | Flat Panel Monitor Arm Category: 06. Peripherals + Accessories Company: Vlaar International Taiwan Ltd., TAIWAN Design: Vlaar Manufacturing B.V., NETHERLANDS

Itʼs the era of the ultra-thin panel monitor! We truly respect the design approach that has made it possible to create this much beauty in this type of product. The careful handling of the details and the overall balance create the perfection of functional beauty. The rotating monitor arms with their alu-parallel construction that means that it is able to hold two or even more monitors at the same time, is a proof that can be transformed in a meaningful and appealing way. Appropriately combining beauty and function into a coherent whole produces a very glamorous result.

Entry: ViMO 1801 | Video Memo Category: 05. Displays + Digital Audio / Video Products Company: Gajah International (HK) Co., Ltd., HONG KONG Design: Shi Ya Xing, Cedric Ng, Gajah International Pte Ltd, SINGAPORE

What can design do to bring new technology into our daily life? We feel that design effectively plays its role in seamlessly establishing new products in our daily life. This

product is a cute digital gadget for leaving messages for your partner on your fridge door. The simple combination of pictures and the digital video memo instantly makes it clear that a message has been posted, making it perfectly adapted for friendly sociable interaction. Cute and minimal design with a warm accent makes people smile. So sweet!

Entry: New AVerPen | Interactive Pen Category: 06. Peripherals + Accessories Company: AVerMedia Information, Inc., TAIWAN Design: AVerMedia Information, Inc., TAIWAN

Novel yet familiar: this interactive pen combines digital technology with an intuitively direct way of writing for kids. Itʼs the perfect marriage of technology, convenience and esthetics. We feel that the design faithfully captures the way that people draw and write. Even though this pen makes the transition from analog presentation to digital, it allows us to easily get used to using the digital substitute. The cutting and fusing of different surfaces also makes it very comfortable to grip. This is awesomely interactive, functional and thoughtful design.

The Jury | Short Bios

Fumie Shibata | design studio S | Tokyo, Japan

Fumie Shibata is a product designer based in Tokyo. Focusing on , she has expanded her design activities in from everyday goods to electronics and healthcare products. Her works have received tremendous acclaim in various design awards all over the world. She has received an iF gold award from iF International Forum Design, a red dot design award in Germany and the Good Design Award Gold Prize in Japan for her outstanding product design. She has also been on the jury for the Good Design Award.

Harm-Willem Hogenbirk | Pilotfish BV | Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Harm Hogenbirk is partner and co-founder of Pilotfish, a progressive design and innovation consultancy based in Munich, Amsterdam and Taipei. As an experienced and passionate senior designer with a strong predilection for electronic products, he has been vital in shaping Pilotfish into a sought-after development partner catering to international brands worldwide. Prior to starting Pilotfish in 2000, he worked for six years as senior designer at Well Design in the Netherlands and Taiwan. He holds an honors degree from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy of Arts, Amsterdam and is a much sought-after speaker at design conferences. He has been a jury member for many international design competitions.

Ishun Linn | U 10 Inc. | Taipei, Taiwan

Ishun Linn graduated from CCS College of Design, Michigan, USA in 1988, with a B.S. in transportation design. Since 1985, he has worked as a designer for many major car companies such as Renault, Toyota and GM, both in Europe and in the US. In 1992, he returned to Taiwan and established I+U Design+Engineering Group. In 2000, he created U2i.d Design and specialized in industrial design. After recognizing the power of branding, he formed U10 Inc. and is still pursuing many industrial design projects. In 2008 and 2009, U10 Inc. received both the Japan Good Design Award and iF product design award for their designs for a series of soya milk fermenters for the Joyoung Company.

James Shyr | HAITEC Design Center | Taipei, Taiwan

James Shyr had earned his Bachelor of Science degree in transportation design from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, USA. He was the longest-serving director of design at General Motorsʼ PATAC China, GMʼs Asia- Pacific operation, based in Shanghai, as well as being one of the eight members of the GM Global Team at GM global headquarters, from 2001 until 2007. During his tenure with GM, he designed some of the best-selling vehicles in China, with more than 3 million vehicles on the road today. In 2008, he was appointed the executive VP of HAITEC Design Center, Yulon Group I, responsible for designing the Luxgen line of vehicles.

Yu-Tsung Hu | ndd design | Tainan, Taiwan

Born in 1964, Yu-Tsung Hu studied industrial design at the National Cheng-Kung University in Taiwan and, from 1992 until 1996, the Berlin University of the Arts in Germany. In 2000, he founded the Taiwan-based NDD (New Design Dimension) design group. In addition to teaching assignments at the National Cheng-Kung University/Tainan City, since 2006 he has worked as the curator of many prominent design exhibitions in Taiwan. In addition, he has recently started to concentrate on traditional crafts, which, he thinks, should be integrated with modern design.

>> The documentation for the COMPUTEX TAIPEI design & innovation awards 2011 was published on the day of the awards ceremony, 31 May 2011. You can also find all the winning entries in the iF online exhibition at the iF website: www.ifdesign.de.

For further information please contact:

Tobie Lee iF Branch Office Taiwan No. 133, Guangfu S. Rd., Xinyi Dist., Taipei 110, Taiwan P. +886.2.27667007 F. +886.2.27678007 [email protected]

For press inquiries please contact: iF press office Cologne | Hannover Silke Becker | Sandy Karstaedt

Claudia Neumann Communication GmbH Eigelstein 103-113 50668 Cologne GERMANY phone +49.221.913949-0 fax +49.221.913949-19 [email protected]