KT Wins Global Awards for Innovative Device Design

KT Soundbar, Router, Restaurant Order Tablet
Achieving Honors at the World's Top 3 Design Awards
Featuring User-Centered Sophisticated Innovative Design

KT announced on the 19th that it has consecutively won awards at global design award ceremonies through user-centered innovative design.

KT's Genie TV All-in-One Soundbar / Photo by KT

Over the past year, KT has introduced three products through the 'Vibrant Design Project': GenieTV All-in-One Soundbar, KT WiFi 6D, and HiOrder 2.

This project aims to innovate device design centered on the customer by exploring not only the external styling but also the customer and their surrounding environment to uncover hidden customer demands.

Through this, KT won awards at the world’s top three design awards: the Red Dot Design Award and the iF Design Award. It also achieved success by winning at the Japan Good Design Award and the European Product Design Award.

The first product designed through this project, the GenieTV All-in-One Soundbar, integrates the wireless router and set-top box, which were previously scattered around the TV, into one device. KT collaborated with the industrial design master Stefano Giovannoni.

Named "Shape of Sound," this product is designed in the form of a soundbar and features a design that visualizes AI voice recognition functionality and excellent sound quality.

The second outcome of the project, 'KT WiFi 6D,' is a wired and wireless router. It improves the mechanical form and cumbersome appearance of existing telecom wired and wireless routers. By embedding antennas, it transmits optimal wireless signals while being designed with a clean and sophisticated appearance that fits any space.

Additionally, it introduced a dedicated skin system that allows users to create a unique router according to their taste and space style, similar to changing a phone case. Besides the default Snow White and Walnut color skins, new skins will be introduced through collaborations with various artists, designers, and brands.

KT Restaurant Ordering Tablet HiOrder2/Photo by KT

The third example, HiOrder 2, a tablet for KT restaurant ordering, solves issues of exposed external wiring and difficulties in cleaning and maintenance through design improvements, and also incorporates installation convenience that flexibly responds to payment systems. Furthermore, its integrated design with emphasized details provides a comfortable user experience for customers using HiOrder 2.

Meanwhile, Kim Byung-kyun, Head of KT Device Division, said, "Since devices, which are the sum of the latest technology and machinery, are ultimately used by people, we have introduced designs that enrich and add value to users’ lives." He added, "We will continue to strive for user-centered device design beyond technology-centered device design."