News

Universal Remote Control Introduces New Line of Multi-Zone One Touch Remotes at ISE 2005 (31/1/2005)

New line brings simplicity and ease-of-use for the home user, while ensuring that the custom installer receives the most powerful tools for cost-effective whole house automation programming.

Universal Remote Control (Europe) has announced that it is embarking on a technological mission that will be officially launched at ISE 2005. The company is aggressively pursuing its goal of placing `total control -- anywhere' in the hands of home theatre enthusiasts by introducing its most powerful line of remotes, to date. Building on the successful debut of the MX3000 colour touchscreen remote control at ISE 2004, Universal will unveil a dynamic family of four new remote products, the Aurora, Orion, Omega, and Osiris. All of the products offer an exceptional user experience coupled with communication capability achieved through a combination of infrared and wireless signaling. In keeping with their corporate philosophy, "NO LIMITS Ð Wireless Entertainment Made Simple", Universal has engineered these remotes to have the memory and program capacity to fully automate the most complex entertainment systems with one touch, both inside and outside the home.

"The entire line is designed to give the custom installation client one touch automation in every room of their home," said Ken Groves, Sales Manager for Universal Remote Controls Europe. "In some rooms, only basic controls for a multi-zone music system are needed, while in others, where the client watches satellite, DVD, and other sources, the remote will need to display all the options available. The new line provides remote control solutions for each room's needs."

The new line of remote controls for the custom installation market revolves around giving users a new level of control over their whole house systems. Each of the new remote controls works both line-of-sight and via omni directional radio frequency. Unlike previous RF remotes, all of these remote controls can route their commands to specific components throughout the house, even particular zone inputs of a multi-zone matrix switcher. This allows the user to freely operate the remote control in any room, through walls, doors or even outside, without pointing the remote at anything. Since all of the remote controls are capable of hundreds of automated macro routines, people can finally have access to complete one touch control of their whole house system no matter what room they are in or where they are sitting in a room.

The "total control -- anywhere" capability is enhanced by the introduction of the new MRF-300 multi-zone compatible RF Receiver base station. The MRF-300 incorporates the most advanced RF circuitry ever built for the custom installation market. Long range sensitivity coupled with elaborate interference control features guarantee success in the complex world of a high-end custom installation. Serving as the centerpiece to a whole house system, the MRF-300 is addressable via 15 separate station IDs and six addressable IR outputs. These IR outputs are buffered and level matched to enable direct connection to multi-zone systems with rear panel zone IR inputs. This allows installers to integrate "no-more-pointing" RF remote controls with standard multi-zone keypads in every room of the client's home. As a result, users can simply touch the keypad as they enter the room, sit down anywhere and control their entire A/V system with an omni directional remote control.

For accessing the versatile new base station, the new line's flagship LCD/Hard Button remote control is the Aurora(TM) MX-950, which feels substantial and has an extraordinary finish, with colors and styling similar to the revolutionary MX3000 touch screen. Aurora offers unprecedented power and flexibility with control of up to 255 devices. And, like all the new remotes in the line, the Aurora operates in both IR and RF, allowing "total control -- anywhere" access to the home entertainment system, even outdoors or through walls, doors and cabinets.

The new Orion MX-850 can control up to 20 components or zones in a whole house system. Orion is powerfully equipped to automate even the most complex media rooms via macros on every custom labeled button.

The Omega MX-650 incorporates RF addressing for multi-zone system compatibility. Omega is perfect for automating those rooms with a small local system as well as access to the main multi-zone system.

The Osiris MX-350 offers custom installers a simpler remote control at a cost-effective price point for rooms that only require automation of the central multi-zone system or a small local system. It displays five custom labeled buttons per page.

From Aurora to Osiris, and the award-winning MX3000 colour touchscreen model, the entire line of remotes and RF base stations from Universal Remote Control are designed to provide the custom installer with a powerful set of programming tools to complete jobs in a fast and efficient manner, while exciting the consumer with bold and attractive styling to match the sophistication of today's complex home entertainment systems.

"Our new line of remote controls ushers in a new era for consumers with installed multi-zone whole house systems," Groves continued. "For custom installers, it is a dream come true. At last, multi-zone whole house systems can have consistent one touch automation in every room, with no-more-pointing ease of operation."

www.universalremoteseurope.com