UNIVERSAL infrared remote controls let people operate their TV, DVD player,
VCR or hi-fi with just one device. But you hit a snag if you buy a new TV or
hi-fi鈥攁nd find the zapper can鈥檛 work it. But now Universal Electronics of
California has an answer: a website that uses sound to reprogram the remote so
it never becomes obsolete.
Universal鈥檚 standard remotes have a read-only memory (ROM) chip which stores
the codes for all TVs and hi-fis known at the time of manufacture. A small
erasable programmable ROM (EPROM) can store any new codes the user
needs鈥攂ut until now, the only reliable way you could update the codes was
to send your remote to a service centre.
But now, Universal鈥檚 website at www.oneforall.com will have a library of all
known codes, updated every day for new devices. So when owners of its new OFA6
universal remote want to add on the new TV, they access the website, enter the
serial number and hold the remote near their PC鈥檚 loudspeaker. It then warbles a
coded signal that updates the EPROM. The website goes live in mid-April.
Advertisement
