Samsung’s Mobile Design Competition Featured $40,000 Prize Money

• The company had called in entries for product design and the mobile wallpaper paradigm graphic design categories
• Samsung announced the winners at day one of its developer conference

Samsung and leading design magazine Dezeen’s announced winners of the mobile design competition during Samsung’s Developers Conference event held in San Jose, California. Interestingly, the company seems to have gotten its hands on some very promising designs for its products and operating software experience.

“At Samsung, whether it’s through hardware or software, we’re constantly exploring ways to take users’ experiences with their Galaxy devices to the next level. Hosting this competition, and attracting the talents of gifted designers, allows us to do just that. We look forward to creating more opportunities for creators to shape the next wave of Galaxy experiences,” shared Dontae Lee, executive vice president & head, Samsung Electronics’ Corporate Design Center.

The winners were selected by a panel of jurors that included designers Stefan Scholten and Paul Austin, Samsung executives, and Dezeen editor-at-large Amy Frearson. Dontae Lee, EVP and head of Samsung Electronics’ Corporate Design Center, and Yun-je Kang, SVP and head of Samsung Electronics’ Design Team, summed up what hosting this inventive competition means to Samsung.

Next Mobile +: Star robotic stand

The winner of Samsung’s Next Mobile + category was bagged by André Gouveia, Nuno Pires and João Pereira. They all belong to Portugal.

Star, as explained by Samsung, is a robotic stand with an articulated structure that’s designed to charge and hold Bixby-enabled mobile devices. Capable of tilting and rotating 360 degrees, the stand allows the devices to follow and assist the user via face and voice recognition – adding new levels of comfort and flexibility to things like video conferencing, cooking, recording video and more.

Fellas of Galaxy

The other highlight of the event included Fellas of Galaxy. This design was showacsed by Cagatay Demirpence and Ece Demirpence. Cagatay and Ece belong to Turkey.

Fellas of Galaxy, as per Samsung, transforms Samsung’s Galaxy Watch into an interactive toy that can sing songs, tell stories and more to entertain the user’s child. The adorable dock – resembling a pig, bear, deer or crocodile – protects and charges the smartwatch, and allows its display to act as an expressive mouth for each Bixby-powered character.

Belt of Galaxy

Alexander Rehn and Tobias Saller from Germany showcased Belt of Galaxy. This belt, as per the duo helps Galaxy users of all ages, maintain a comfortable grip of Galaxy mobile devices.

Samsung’s official statement read, “The loop, which locks easily into place with a clip, can help prevent young and old users, who may not have the muscle endurance or strength to maintain a constant hold of their smartphone or tablet, from accidentally dropping their devices.”