Philips Digital Photo Display Wins Product Design Award

Philips wins two Red Dot product design awards

Philips Press Release Excerpt:
Philips continues to receive confirmation of its acclaimed design approach that combines technological sense with user friendliness. The latest accolade is in the form of two prestigious Red Dot awards for the product design of Philips SmartTouch XL and the Digital Photo Display.

One of the world's largest design competitions
The Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen (Essen, Germany) has been marking outstanding international product design since 1955 with its famous dot. With over 4,000 entries from 40 countries, the Red Dot design award ranks among the largest design competitions in the world. Manufacturers and designers of a wide variety of industrial products can enter their work in eleven product groups for this coveted accolade. The award ceremony will be held in the Essen opera house, Germany, on June 26th 2006.

Strictassessment criteria
The submitted products are evaluated according to a number of strict criteria,including degree of innovation, functionality, ergonomics, self-explanatory quality, formal quality, symbolic and emotional content, ecological compatibility and durability. These criteria are constantly adapted to reflect the latest technical, manufacturing, societal, industrial and ecological developments.

Prof. Dr. Peter Zec, president of the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen, commented: "This year's entries from Philips were of a very high standard. Both the Philips SmartTouch XL and the Digital Photo Display caught the jury's eye as advanced products with sleek simple design."

Digital Photo Display
With research indicating that many consumers do nothing more with digital photographs than store them on a PC, the Digital Photo Display is a welcome development. Its LCD screen displays single photos, thumbnails or slideshows. It has 88% more pixels per square inch than a 17-inch LCD monitor screen, and reproduces rich detail and vibrant colors. It stores up to 80 digital images as well as directly displaying photos from a memory card. The interface is simple and intuitive, and no programming or PC is required. The Digital Photo Display can be oriented in landscape or portrait, and has a removable stand for portability.

The Digital Photo Display was first envisioned as a concept in the 1995, Philips Vision of the Future project, aiming to explore life and technology in the near future. By carrying out extensive research into socio-cultural trends and developments in technology, Philips looked carefully at the increasingly complex relationship, in order to ensure that products and services would come closer to meeting human needs and desires.

From the research, it was clear that individualization of society has loosened national and family ties. Increased mobility means families were becoming more fragmented and with a weakened sense of community. Indeed, as family members move away from home in search of employment, there was a feeling of separation and isolation.

For further information on the red dot awards, go to:
red dot online.

Further information on Philips Design is available at: www.design.philips.com.