ASUS Wins Prestigious 2014 Red Dot Awards for Product Design

ASUS ZenFone and ROG Maximus VI Formula motherboard epitomize design excellence by embodying humanity, beauty, and functionality

ASUS today proudly announced that ASUS ZenFone and ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) Maximus VI Formula motherboard have each been honored with a Red Dot Design Award 2014, reflecting outstanding designs from ASUS that deliver incredible experiences to users. ZenFone won the award in the Mobile Phone category and ROG Maximus VI Formula motherboard won in the Computer Component category. The winning ASUS products were chosen from a large field of 4,815 entries from companies in 53 countries. Products considered for the award are assessed on a wide range of criteria including degree of innovation, functionality and ergonomics. The Red Dot jury for 2014 comprises 40 design experts from around the world and is the largest in the history of the awards.

ZenFone Series

The ASUS ZenFone Series is available with screens ranging from 4 to 6 inches and comes in a variety of striking colors. The use of Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 gives ZenFone unprecedented levels of damage and scratch resistance. The front façade of ZenFone also features a brushed metal lower bezel which sports the iconic concentric circle finish — a signature design detail that is found in many ASUS products. Each lightweight ZenFone delivers a vibrant, youthful look with interchangeable covers that let users personalize and express themselves with colors that range from classy Charcoal Black to more striking hues like Cherry Red or Solar Yellow.

Every ZenFone features ASUS ZenUI, the all-new, exclusive mobile user interface developed around the concepts of freedom, expression and connection. Featuring a new visual design made to be efficient and inviting, it contains modern 'flat' icons, vivid device-matching color themes, animations, new ringtones and notification sounds, and a clean layout to present information clearly.

ASUS ZenUI includes exclusive apps like What's Next and Do It Later that help users manage information and enable them to be more productive. Additionally, enhanced Android apps make life easier by including useful features such as threaded email for keeping track of conversations and Smart Reader Mode in the web browser for reducing eye-strain. ASUS ZenUI even includes free open messaging, powered by Omlet Chat on the Omlet Open Messaging Platform, that lets users share almost any kind of content easily with anyone, on any phone.

ROG Maximus VI Formula

The ROG Maximus VI Formula is a high-performance Z87 gaming motherboard whose design packs multiple performance-enhancing features along with undeniable style. Its unique CrossChill hybrid thermal design allows the user to choose between an air- or water-cooled thermal solution. Unlike other hybrid designs, CrossChill does not require a fan, so there is no noise or dust build-up. Water cooling provides up to 23°C lower MOSFET temperatures for more stable overclocking.

ROG Maximus VI Formula also features ROG Armor, another unique design feature that provides numerous performance benefits and adds a stylish futuristic flourish to the motherboard. Composed of two parts, a strong ABS top cover that blocks heat from graphics cards, and an SECC steel support behind the PCB, ROG Armor reduces overall system temperature and prevents PCB bending.

In addition to the design styling of ROG Armor, the motherboard features the striking red and black ROG color theme. This color theme is uniform throughout the ROG experience and appears not only on the hardware, but also in the UEFI BIOS and all software user interfaces.

About the Red Dot Design Award

The Red Dot Design Award is an internationally-recognized seal of quality for products that represent the pinnacle of design in their respective categories. It is given by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Essen, Germany, and is one of the top four international design awards along with the IDEA Award, iF Product Design Award and Good Design Award. Products considered for the Red Dot Design Award are judged by a panel of international design experts and are assessed on the following criteria: degree of innovation, functionality, formal quality, ergonomics, durability, symbolic and emotional content, product periphery, self-explanatory quality and ecological compatibility.