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Belkin RockStar and TuneStudio™ Receive International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) Presented by IDSA and Sponsored by BusinessWeek
Six IDEA Awards and mention in the Top Corporations list for most awards won in the last five years demonstrate Belkin’s commitment to excellence in design innovation
(Compton, CA) - July 21, 2008 – Belkin International, Inc., has been recognized for its innovative and exciting product designs with two IDEA awards, by cosponsors Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and BusinessWeek. Belkin was given a Silver award for RockStar, a multi-headphone splitter, and a Bronze award for TuneStudio, a 4-channel mixer for iPod, in the Computer Equipment category.
Since entering the competition in 2002, Belkin has been honored with a total of eight IDEA Awards, with the last six awards occurring in the past five years. Belkin’s award-winning design team also made the Top Corporations list of companies who have won the most awards in the past five years.
The 2008 IDEA jury, composed of 20 world-renowned designers and design thinkers, spent weeks previewing entries online and two-and-a-half days of intense, face-to-face evaluation and debate on IDEA. Each entry was judged on these eight areas of industrial design excellence: design innovation; benefit to the user; benefit to the client/business; benefit to society; ecological responsibility; appropriate aesthetics and appeal; usability testing; rigor and reliability (Design Research category); and internal factors and methods, implementation (Design Strategy category).
RockStar
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TuneStudio
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RockStar is a unique hub that connects a combination of MP3 players and headphones. Attach your headphones and hear your friend’s playlist, or add another iPod to mix songs and listen together.
- Five ports to attach headphones or MP3 players
- One hard-wired connection for your MP3 player
- Included cable to attach another MP3 player
- Mixing and fade-ins controlled by the standard controls of each MP3 player
TuneStudio is the first 4-channel audio mixer that lets you create high-quality digital recordings directly onto your iPod for instant playback.
- Records directly to iPod in 16-bit, 44kHz quality
- Streams audio through built-in USB interface to and from a PC or Mac computer
- Each channel is equipped with 3-band EQ, pan and level controls
- Phantom-power-enabled XLR inputs provide up to 60 dB of microphone gain
- High-quality stereo compressor with makeup gain enhances audio dynamics and keeps audio levels within recording limits of the iPod
For more information, please visit www.idsa.org.
Ernesto Quinteros, VP of Design for Belkin International, Inc.:
- We are proud to be recognized by the IDSA and BusinessWeek magazine for these two unique accessories.
- RockStar allows for people to create and share their own music experiences while TuneStudio allows for stereo recording onto an iPod for playback or advanced editing on a Mac utilizing GarageBand software.
- Both products are distinct in their ability to help the iPod go beyond a passive listening device; they enable people to create dynamic social experiences.
- Belkin is very excited to make it onto BusinessWeek’s - 5 Years of IDEA Winners,’ which lists the corporations that have won the most awards over the last five years.
- We are pleased to share the spotlight with this small group of distinguished companies, those that get recognized for design innovation consistently.
The IDEA program fosters business and public understanding about the impact of industrial design excellence on the quality of life and the economy.
Industrial designers determine the form, use features and interaction qualities of manufactured products, packaging, and digital media systems. They study people at work, at home, and in motion to create satisfying experiences with products from the kitchen and the office to the hospital and the warehouse, shaping these to fit their customers and to make effective use of industrial processes. In this way, industrial designers have a quiet but profound presence in almost everything people encounter during the day.
IDSA is the voice of industrial design, committed to advancing the profession through education, information, community, and advocacy.
Stay tuned to www.idsa.org/idea for information about the 2009 IDEA program. IDEA® is cosponsored by BusinessWeek and IDSA.
About Belkin International, Inc.
Belkin offers a diverse product mix that provides people with seamless electronics integration in their homes, cars, and on the go. Founded in California in 1983, Belkin is a privately held company and the recognized leader in connectivity solutions, in addition to accessories for MP3 devices, computers, and more. We provide extensive solutions for networking, home theater—with our PureAV® line of cables, power, and digital wireless accessories—and many more categories. You can view and purchase them at www.belkin.com, as well as through a network of major distributors, resellers, and superstores.
Belkin’s phenomenal growth has led to our expanding global presence. In addition to corporate headquarters in Los Angeles, we now have offices throughout Europe—in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany, among others—and in the Asia Pacific region, including Australia, Shanghai, and our regional headquarters in Hong Kong.
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