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News
- Synaptics and Pilotfish Collaborate to Develop Next Generation Mobile Phone Concept
2006-08-21 19:25:14
Synaptics and Pilotfish Collaborate to Develop Next Generation Mobile Phone Concept
Answer your phone with the touch of a cheek! Synaptics & Pilotfish utilize Synaptics' ClearPad touch screen to enable new paradigms in industrial design and mobile user interfaces
SANTA CLARA, Calif., USA and MUNICH, Germany - August 21, 2006 -- Synaptics Incorporated (NASDAQ: SYNA), a leading developer of interface solutions for mobile computing, communications and entertainment devices, and Pilotfish, a progressive industrial design and product development studio based in Munich and Taipei, today announced the introduction of Onyx, a next-generation mobile phone concept. This concept device enables OEMs to visualize a fundamentally new form of user interface for mobile phones.
New Usage
The new concept phone uses Synaptics' ClearPad, an optically clear, capacitive touch screen solution, to create a fully adaptive user interface (UI). The ClearPad input system eliminates the traditional mechanical keys found on phones today and dramatically adapts to present the information and controls a user needs at any given moment.
More intelligent than conventional touch screens, the ClearPad accurately recognizes not only points and taps, but also shapes, complex gestures, and proximity to the user's finger or cheek. This creates new possibilities such as assigning functions to two-finger taps, closing tasks by swiping an "X" over them, sending messages by swiping them off the screen, or answering a phone by holding it up to your cheek. The prototype phone uses a dynamic UI, where applications are layered and opened simultaneously, allowing a seamless flow of information between applications.
"Mobile phones are no longer used just for making calls -- they have become a single access point for critical day-to-day information," explains Clark Foy, vice president of Synaptics. "The Onyx phone is a breakthrough illustration of how advances in interface technology and collaborative design will drive the future of mobile interactions and services."
Collaborative Design
The Onyx phone is the result of collaboration between Synaptics and Pilotfish, under the philosophy that hardware and software are not two separate fields, but interrelated parts of the overall experience of a product. Utilizing Synaptics' ClearPad touch screen technology & interaction design, Pilotfish created a cutting-edge user interface and industrial design model for OEMs to innovate upon.
"The real meaning of this product is about opening up the channels between hand, eyes, and device, and giving people access to actions and information in a way not possible with conventional buttons," says Brian Conner, leader of the design team for the Onyx at Pilotfish in Munich. "When carrying this out, we integrated the approach to designing product form and user interface, and started by focusing on the actions and experiences around the Onyx - the result is a device where the new interaction possibilities are supported and emphasized by the simple, clear form."
For more information on Synaptics and Pilotfish, visit www.synaptics.com and www.pilotfish.eu.
About Synaptics Incorporated
Synaptics (NASDAQ: SYNA) is a leading developer of interface solutions for the mobile computing, communications and entertainment industries. The company creates interface solutions for a variety of devices including notebook PCs, PC peripherals, digital music players, and mobile phones. The TouchPad™, Synaptics' flagship product, is integrated into more than 50 percent of today's notebook computers. Consumer electronics and computing manufacturers use Synaptics' solutions to enrich the interaction between humans and intelligent devices through improved usability, functionality and industrial design. The company is headquartered in San Jose, California. www.synaptics.com
About Pilotfish
Pilotfish is a progressive industrial design and product development studio based in Munich and Taipei. Specialized in electronic products (consumer and professional electronics, medical & home care, sports & leisure), Pilotfish offers the complete range of industrial design services, from user research to concept development, 3D modeling, prototyping, and batch production. Next to award-winning design (iF, IDEA, red dot, GIO, Best of Comdex), the company also provides mechanical engineering, project management and on-site quality control for tooling and production in Asia. Since its foundation in 2000, Pilotfish has grown to a multinational team of over 20 designers, engineers, marketing and manufacturing experts catering to international brands worldwide. www.pilotfish.eu
For further information and digital images, please contact:
Nicole Dortans
Pilotfish
+49-89-12021894
nicole.dortans@pilotfishproducts.com
- Red Dot for Onyx
2006-10-12 15:54:57
Synaptics and Pilotfish Receive Coveted "red dot" Design Award for Onyx Handset Concept
International design recognition for innovative use of industrial design and user interfaces for mobile phone
SANTA CLARA, Calif., USA and MUNICH, Germany - October 12, 2006 -- Synaptics Incorporated (NASDAQ: SYNA), a leading developer of interface solutions for mobile computing, communications and entertainment devices, and Pilotfish, a progressive industrial design and product development studio based in Munich and Taipei, today announced that the Onyx concept phone received one of the most sought-after design awards world-wide: the red dot. The red dot quality label is awarded annually for superior design quality and innovative design in the international "red dot design award" competition.
"We are proud and honored that the Onyx design concept was selected for a red dot award," says Brian Conner, leader of the Onyx design team at Pilotfish in Munich. "We see this as an important acknowledgement of the fruitful collaboration between Synaptics and Pilotfish and further proof of our belief that close cooperation between design development and technology development paves the way for groundbreaking product innovations and enhanced overall product experiences."
Onyx is a collaborative project between Synaptics and Pilotfish, introducing a next-generation handset concept that enables OEMs to visualize a fundamentally new form of user interface for mobile phones. Based on Synaptics' ClearPad™, an optically clear, capacitive touch screen solution, Onyx introduces a fully adaptive user interface that eliminates the need for mechanical buttons and allows for gesture-based input. Utilizing the Synaptics ClearPad technology and interaction design methods, Pilotfish created a cutting-edge user interface and industrial design model that inspires new ways of designing handheld devices.
"The red dot award for Onyx recognizes a new perspective on fusing design with technology in a manner that conforms to the needs of today's on-the-go lifestyles, instead of bending the customer to the constraints of high tech," said Dr. John Feland, human interface architect at Synaptics. "Synaptics' intuitive capacitive sensing technology laid the foundation for the Onyx design and the creation of a unique and user-friendly interface for future mobile phones and other consumer electronics devices."
Red Dot Design Award
With more than 5,000 entries in the categories of product design, design concept and communication design, the red dot design award is the leading and largest design competition worldwide.
A total of 478 entries from 40 countries were submitted this year in the design concept category, 74 of which successfully passed the scrutiny of the international expert jury to be selected for an award. The awards ceremony takes place on 24 November 2006 at the red dot design museum in Singapore. Starting 25 November 2006, the award-winning designs will be exhibited in the museum's special exhibition "International Design Concepts 2006".
For more information on red dot, visit www.red-dot.de.
For more information on the Onyx Concept, visit http://www.synaptics.com/onyx and www.pilotfish.eu.
For more information on Synaptics and Pilotfish, visit www.synaptics.com and www.pilotfish.eu.
About Synaptics Incorporated
Synaptics (NASDAQ: SYNA) is a leading developer of interface solutions for the mobile computing, communications and entertainment industries. The company creates interface solutions for a variety of devices including notebook PCs, PC peripherals, digital music players, and mobile phones. The TouchPad™, Synaptics' flagship product, is integrated into more than 50 percent of today's notebook computers. Consumer electronics and computing manufacturers use Synaptics' solutions to enrich the interaction between humans and intelligent devices through improved usability, functionality and industrial design. The company is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. www.synaptics.com
About Pilotfish
Pilotfish is a progressive industrial design and product development studio based in Munich and Taipei. Specialized in electronic products (consumer and professional electronics, medical & home care, sports & leisure), Pilotfish offers the complete range of industrial design services, from user research to concept development, 3D modeling, prototyping, and batch production. Next to award-winning design (iF, IDEA, red dot, GIO, Best of Comdex), the company also provides mechanical engineering, project management and on-site quality control for tooling and production in Asia. Since its foundation in 2000, Pilotfish has grown to a multinational team of over 20 designers, engineers, marketing and manufacturing experts catering to international brands worldwide. www.pilotfish.eu
Synaptics, ClearPad and the Synatics logo are trademarks of Synaptics in the United States and/or other countries. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.
For further information, please contact:
Tara Yingst, Synaptics, +1-650-762-2942, tyingst@ar-edelman.com
Nicole Dortans, Pilotfish, +49-89-12021894, nicole.dortans@pilotfish.eu
- Four iF Awards for Pilotfish
2006-11-26 15:48:26
A total of 4 products designed by Pilotfish have won the prestigious iF product design award 2007: the AQ hearing aid charger for Audia, the MDPNA 450 navigation system for Medion, the USB interface Audio Kontrol 1 for Native Instruments and the Industrial VoIP PDA PA600 for Unitech. We would like to congratulate our customers on this proof of our successful co-operation!
This year, more than 2,200 products submitted from 35 different nations competed for what is known as one of the most coveted and renowned awards worldwide.
The prize-winning products will be displayed at the iF design exhibition 2007, taking place from March 15 (parallel to the CeBIT tradeshow) until July 2007 in the Industry Forum Design on the Hanover fairgrounds.
See Audia AQ, Medion MDPNA 450, Native Instruments AK1, Unitech PA600
- Tiki'labs and Pilotfish cooperate on the introduction of Tiki® 6 keys
2007-02-12 18:49:34
Intelligent new software keyboard marks major milestone in mobile input
Paris, France, and Munich, Germany, February 12, 2007 -- Tiki'labs sas, a French start-up company in the HMI industry, and Pilotfish, a progressive industrial design and product development studio based in Munich and Taipei, today announced their cooperation on the introduction of the Tiki® 6 keys technology developed by Tiki'labs.
Tiki® 6 keys is an innovative software keyboard solution which reduces input to only six physical or virtual keys. It can be implemented on any mobile device (smartphone, PDA, tablet PC or new generation mobile phones), either integrated in software or as a separate hardware input accessory. For all users dissatisfied with the current input systems on their mobile devices, Tiki® 6 keys offers an intelligent, space-saving and more comfortable alternative to QWERTY, multitap or T9. For the first time, compactness, comfort, and performance are brought together in mobile input.
In the framework of the announced cooperation, Pilotfish will render conceptual design and design consulting services to support the introduction of the Tiki® 6 keys technology to the mobile communications, computing and consumer electronics markets.
The Tiki® 6 keys technology
By enabling the user to enter any letter or figure using only six keys, Tiki® 6 keys simplifies SMS and e-mail typing, speeds up mobile web browsing, and offers unparalleled flexibility for professional applications. Based on extensive cognitive research, Tiki® 6 keys is learned quickly and easily. Within only a few hours, the writing speed will exceed multitap and T9, leading the user to eventually type blindly on either keyboards or multi touch screens.
Experts estimate that around 40 per cent of mobile subscribers send very few SMS due to their discomfort with current input methods, such as multitap or T9. With users having identified mobile internet as one of the most exciting capabilities of their phone, firstly to send email and secondly to make short searches, current devices still lack an appropriate input tool to perform those simple tasks. In both cases, Tiki® 6 keys overcomes present limitations and provides a smart and elegant solution.
About Tiki'labs sas
Tiki'labs sas is a French start-up created in April 2006. The company's mission is to provide better Human Machine Interaction (HMI) solutions for the numeric convergence and small devices. Tiki'labs pursues this mission by combining state of the art HMI with the Tiki® system and process. The Tiki® proprietary patent pending process is the fruit of over two years of prototyping and user testing. The Tiki® project was among the winners of the French Research Ministry Contest 2005. For more information, please visit www.tikilabs.com.
About Pilotfish
Pilotfish is a progressive industrial design and product development studio based in Munich and Taipei. Specialized in electronic products (consumer and professional electronics, medical & home care, sports & leisure), Pilotfish offers the complete range of industrial design services, from user research to concept development, 3D modeling, prototyping, and batch production. Next to award-winning design (iF, IDEA, red dot, GIO), the company also provides mechanical engineering, project management and on-site quality control for tooling and production in Asia. Since its foundation in 2000, Pilotfish has grown to a multinational team of over 20 designers, engineers, marketing and manufacturing experts catering to international brands worldwide. For more information, please visit www.pilotfish.eu.
- Pelin Celik and Pilotfish win red dot: best of the best for Senso concept design
2007-10-29 15:44:27
The concept 'senso. a companion for life', created by Pelin Celik in cooperation with Pilotfish, received one of the highest international design distinctions: the red dot: best of the best award.
Selected as best of its category in the sector 'Life Science', Senso is one of eighteen concepts chosen among 884 submissions from 46 countries awarded for their outstanding and innovative design.
The award ceremony will take place on 30 November 2007 in Singapore. Following the ceremony, Senso will be presented in a one-year exhibition in the red dot design museum, Singapore.
See www.red-dot.de
- We did it again... Pilotfish scores at iF Awards 2008
2008-02-11 15:47:26
For the fourth year in a row, Pilotfish has scored at the international iF product design award competition, this year with two winning designs: the E-TEN M800 Pocket PC Phone and the Option iCON 401 Wireless USB Modem.
With a record number of 2,771 entries from 35 countries, the submitted products were subjected to tightened adjudication criteria by the international iF Jury of 26 experts. The resulting reduced ratio of winners turns this year's iF award into an even more prestigious mark of quality. Pilotfish would like to congratulate and thank our customers for the rewarding cooperation!
Following the official iF award ceremony on March 4th, the award-winning products will be exhibited from March until August 2008 at the Hanover Exhibition Center on the Hanover fairgrounds.
See www.ifdesign.de
- Red Dot Award for Option iCON 401 Wireless USB Modem
2008-03-14 15:39:09
Following its success at the iF product design award competition 2008, Pilotfish has received yet another highly-coveted international design distinction for the wireless USB modem iCON 401 designed for Option NV: the red dot award 2008.
The iCON 401 was selected amongst a record number of over 3,000 entries from 51 countries, illustrating the strong recognition of the red dot design distinction on the international scale.
The red dot award ceremony takes place on June 23rd, 2008, at the Aalto Theater in Essen, Germany, and will be followed by an exhibition of the winning products in the red dot design museum at the Zeche Zollverein in Essen as from June 24th, 2008.
See www.red-dot.de
- Pilotfish News / Autumn 2008
2008-11-14 16:28:27
- New Office in Amsterdam
- Extended Tooling & Production Services
- Marc Nagel Judging at 2008 Taiwan Design Award and
Taiwan International Design Competition
Click below to view full text.
- Pilotfish wins iF award 2009 with HANSATON VELVET X-Mini
2009-01-08 10:22:23
Pilotfish is happy to announce that the company has won yet another iF award for our long-term client Hansaton Akustik.
The iF product design award 2009 was awarded to the digital hearing system HANSATON VELVET X-Mini, an ultra small high-performance Receiver-In-Canal hearing system with jewel-like appeal due its exclusive finishes and distinct, yet ergonomic shape. The product was awarded in the category "Medicine/Health+Care".
Pilotfish congratulates and thanks Hansaton for the continuously successful cooperation!
The official iF award ceremony takes place on March 3rd, 2009 at the opening of the Cebit tradeshow in Hanover. The award-winning products will be exhibited from March until August 2009 at the Hanover Exhibition Center on the Hanover fairgrounds. The iF online exhibition of the winning product designs 2009 will go live end of January.
See www.ifdesign.de
- Marc Nagel in the jury of the Computex Taipei design & innovation awards
2009-07-06 14:04:27
The Computex Taipei Design & Innovation Award is a recent created award to discover innovative, applicative, and creative products. The IT industry is one of the world's most innovative economic sectors and Taiwan, in particular, is a place of great potential and opportunities.
Marc Nagel was invited to take part in the jury of the award, which was organized by the German iF International Forum Design and TAITRA. The winning products were shown at the Computex Taipei exhibition in June 2009. It became the largest computer exhibition in Asia and the second largest in the world, next to CeBIT in Germany.
see Computex Teipei design & innovation awards
- DJ Richie Hawtin performs live with NI hardware controllers
2009-09-22 10:15:48
During a live act at the Saturday Adventure Club in Berlin on September 19th, 2009, internationally-touring DJ and techno producer Richie Hawtin demonstrates the use of the TRAKTOR KONTROL X1 and MASCHINE hardware controllers desigend by Pilotfish for its longtime client Native Instruments. Hawtin, who published his works under the aliases Plastikman and F.U.S.E., is an influential innovator in the field of DJ mixing using additional technical effect devices. He decisively influenced the development of the techno genre.
Watch the video and check out TRAKTOR KONTROL X1 and MASCHINE in our portfolio section!
- Pilotfish wins red dot: best of the best with Ondo phone concept
2009-08-15 09:57:30
Pilotfish' music editing phone concept Ondo scored red dot: best of the best 2009 at the prestigious red dot design concept award competition. Out of a record number of 2,733 entries from 56 countries, Ondo won the only best of the best distinction awarded in the category Interaction & Communication.
Ondo is a conceptual mobile phone for the music enthusiast who seeks to interactively capture and edit sounds. Ondo collects pure sounds and is specially constructed to create a tactile sound-editing experience. Check out more about the Ondo concept in our Visions section!
See www.red-dot.sg.
- Good Design Award 2009 for Medion The Touch
2010-02-19 13:45:51
Medion's All-in-One touchscreen PC "The Touch" designed by Pilotfish has won a distinction at the world's oldest and most coveted design award competition: the GOOD DESIGN Award. It is conferred annually by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design together with The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies. Founded in 1950, GOOD DESIGN acknowledges the world's most prominent designers and manufacturers for advancing new, visionary, and innovative product concepts. Out of a record number of several thousand submissions sent in from 40 countries in 2009, "The Touch" scored in the category Electronics.
See www.chi-athenaeum.org and visit our portfolio section for more info on Medion The Touch.
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