LaCie Wins International Acclaim For Product Design and Performance

PORTLAND, OR (December 2006) – LaCie is the recipient of multiple high profile design awards including two Design Observer Stars from the France-based Agency for the Promotion of Industrial Creation (APCI), two iF Product Design Awards from the Germany-based International Forum Design (iF), four Good Design Awards, aka G-Mark, from the Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization (JIDPO).

By partnering with top designers from around the globe, LaCie continues to garner international recognition for its unique approach to product design and aesthetic.

LaCie Founder and CEO Philippe Spruch said, “Our uniqueness in the industry is not an accident. We have a long history of merging technology with design, with many other tech companies following our lead. Each product we create is complex underneath, but appears as a simple to use object. LaCie’s R&D and product managers work with designers who focus not only on the functionality and performance of each product but its aesthetic as well. Everything we create is simple by design.”

Awarded products include:

LaCie Rugged | Design by Neil Poulton is a tough handheld hard drive with triple interface in capacities of 80GB, 100GB, 120GB or 160GB. It has internal shock absorbers that make it resistant to table-height drops, and is surrounded by an orange rubber bumper to keep data safe from everyday bumps and bruises. It’s bus-powered, so no AC adapter is required for use. LaCie Rugged received a Design Observer Star 2007 and G-Mark Award 2006, as well as the Red Dot Award for Product Design and CNET Editor’s Choice earlier this year.

LaCie Little Big Disk | Design by Neil Poulton is a durable handheld hard drive with triple interface in capacities of 160GB, 200GB or 320GB. It’s bus-powered over FireWire—a feat no other external drive of this capacity has been able to achieve. Internal RAID 0 gives it transfer rates equal to that of desktop hard drives, clocking at about 82MB/s over FireWire 800. The waffled aluminum alloy case acts as a heat sink, providing excellent heat dissipation to prolong the life of the drive. LaCie Little Big Disk received a Design Observer Star 2007 and iF Product Design Award 2007, as well as the AIM Award from the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and Macworld Magazine 4.5 Mouse Rating earlier this year.

LaCie USB Key is a credit card-sized drive with a single USB 2.0 interface in capacities of 4GB or 8GB. Its compact size and integrated USB cable allows for easy transportation of key files. Formerly called the LaCie Carte Orange, it now comes in orange or black. It received a G-Mark Award 2006.

LaCie Brick Desktop & Mobile Editions | Design by Ora-Ïto are a playful new set of stackable hard drives in vibrant white, red and blue colors designed to look like children’s building blocks. Desktop Editions include a single USB 2.0 interface in capacities ranging from 160-500GB, while Mobile Editions include dual USB 2.0 and FireWire interfaces in capacities ranging from 40-120GB. As one drive gets full, stack another on top for an instant boost in capacity. LaCie Brick Desktop & Mobile Editions has been selected by The Design Observer 2007 and received G-Mark awards, as well as the Red Dot Award 2006 for Product Design earlier this year.

LaCie Skwarim | Design by Karim Rashid is a textured handheld hard drive with a single, integrated USB 2.0 interface and 60GB capacity. This funky 3.3-inch perfect square box comes in vibrant pink or blue, and is designed to be a tactile representation of the precious information we carry every day. LaCie Skwarim has been selected by The Design Observer 2007 and received an iF Product Design Award 2007 and G-Mark Award.

Design Observer Awards have been organized since 1999 by the APCI. Each year they highlight and reward a selection of the best creations resulting from the collaboration between companies and designers. This year 150 products were selected for awards, and 30 of those were given the coveted Design Observer Star for outstanding design including two from LaCie. Both LaCie products will appear in a number of global gallery exhibitions at “la Cité des sciences et de l’Industrie” running through mid-January 2007.

The iF Product Design Award is one of the world’s three leading design awards and can look back proudly on a 50-year history. Every year at the Hannover Exhibition Centre some 2,000 products from around 37 nations are judged by renowned experts, with the best of them receiving an iF seal of outstanding design quality – a worldwide brand with high recognition value, guaranteeing its owner a place on the cutting edge of contemporary design.

Good Design Awards, aka G-Marks, have been organized by JIDPO since 1957. The main purpose of JIDPO is finding excellently designed products that contribute to the quality of life and industrial field via power of design. Four LaCie products were chosen to receive G-Marks out of almost 3,000 applicants. Each product will be on display at the Good Design Presentation event happening in 2007 in Tokyo.

About LaCie
LaCie creates external storage solutions and color monitors that help professionals and everyday users easily manage their digital lives. Powerful technology combined with unique designs by the internationally acclaimed Philippe Starck, Neil Poulton, Porsche Design GmbH, Ora-Ïto and Karim Rashid make LaCie the world leader in storage innovation. Established in France in 1989, LaCie is now headquartered in North America, Europe and Asia and listed on the Paris Nouveau Marché (code 5431). For more information, visit www.lacie.com.

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Contact LaCie
Press Inquiries: Melissa Logan, 503-844-4500, mlogan@lacie.com
Sales Inquiries: Direct Sales, 503-844-4502, sales@lacie.com
Reseller Sales, 503-844-4500, sales@lacie.com

1GB (gigabyte) = 1,000,000,000 bytes. 1TB (terabyte) = 1000GB. Actual capacity varies depending on operating environment (typically 5-10% less).

Contact Information

Melissa Logan

PR Specialist USA

LaCie

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