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Wednesday, 13 December 2006 | Levent OZLER
Pantech Wins iF Design Award for Excellence & Innovation
for Third Consecutive Year
Pantech Group, the leading Korean handset manufacturer, today announced that it has been once again honored at the prestigious iF (International Forum) Design Award for excellence and innovation in the design of cellular phones and packaging, marking the third consecutive year since 2004.
Four of the company's products were recognized by the iF Design Award: "SP5" and "HC1" in Consumer Electronics/Telecommunicatons category, "Flexus 03" in Advanced Studies, and "One touch open cap" in packaging design. At 2006 iF Design Award, Pantech received the awards in recognition of three models; one commercial handset and two advanced concept models.
Jin Huh, Vice President, Design Division, Pantech said, "Pantech has put its efforts to offer better and more innovative handset designs to customers. It is a huge endorsement of Pantech's design capabilities to have our designs honored by some prestigious institutions such as the International Forum."
"As we develop the Pantech brand worldwide, our design competency - acknowledged by such a renowned design award - will be a cornerstone of our strategy to increase brand loyalty across all markets," said Mr.Huh.
The front face of the 'Flexus 03' is all covered with the black screen with the shape of a smoothly curved slim slider. A trackball-typed input mechanism on the face is an addition to its design attributes. The 'one touch open cap', honored in the category of packaging design, is designed as a round-shaped aluminum can, maxmizing customers' impression of unsealing a fancy box fluttering with excitement.
Pantech has been committing to enhancing its overall design competency and to supporting the development of new trend-setting handsets in many ways. The company collaborates with leading global design firms to enhance the creativity of its internal designers, while Pantech runs the 'Pantech Design Community' which consists of a group of talented college students in a bid to foster them into world-class designers and to gain fresh ideas for innovative handset designs from them.
Pantech
Pantech, through its affiliates - Pantech Co., Ltd., Pantech&Curitel Communications, Inc. and Pantech C&I Co. - is one of Korea's top three mobile handset makers and is the seventh largest handset manufacturer in the world. Pantech has been responsible for a number of breakthrough innovations in the mobile technology sector, including the introduction in 2004 of the world's first fingerprint recognition camera phone, as well as award winning camcorder, MP3 and DMB phones. In 2005, Pantech affiliate Pantech&Curitel Communications acquired SK Teletech Co., the handset manufacturing arm of SK Telecom, the number one mobile network operator in South Korea. The SKY brand, originally marketed by SK Teletech as the most popular premium handset brand in South Korea, has since become part of the Pantech brand portfolio. Pantech markets its products under the SKY and Curitel brands in the domestic Korean market and under the Pantech brand overseas. Pantech collectively has approximately 3,500 employees and 21 regional sales offices worldwide.
Pantech: http://www.dexigner.com/directory/detail/8510/
iF (International Forum) Design Award
The iF (International Forum) Design Award is among the most important design competitions worldwide, attracting over 1,800 entries from 30 different countries every year. The award has been given since 1954 and is one of the most prestigious design awards along with the IDEA Award (Industrial Design Excellence Award) in the U.S. The iF jury, composed of top international designers, not only critically examines and selects the award-winning entries, but also guarantees the iF's special status. The iF is awarded on 10 different categories of criteria such as practicality, stability, durability, ergonomics, creativity and harmony with nature. As a result, the recipients of the award prove their levels of excellence in product design and competitiveness.
iF (International Forum) Design Award: http://www.dexigner.com/directory/detail/3154/
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