News

Universal Electronics Unveils New Home Control Product Suite Powered by Z-Wave Technology (22/1/2007)

UEI debuts new remotes at CES geared to put total control of the home environment at consumers' fingertips

Universal Electronics Inc. (UEI) (NASDAQ:UEIC) today announced the release of a new line of remote control platforms powered by the Z-Wave(r) communication protocol to meet the growing home and audio/visual control needs of consumers. The new suite of home control remotes provides one-touch control of everything from lighting to air conditioning to home entertainment systems.

Utilizing Z-Wave, an open technology standard for home control, UEI has developed these new solutions for simple, accessible, and affordable handheld home control. The new remotes with Z-Wave are known at UEI as the Halo, Halo LCD, and Helix products. These new lines of remote controls incorporate consumer-friendly benefits including:

* Energy conservation. By giving consumers the ability to easily schedule climate and lighting control events, households can more readily conserve electricity and reduce energy costs.

* Ease of use. Incorporating LED and LCD screens provide the user with an intuitive interface to easily program and operate the remote to control their home environment. This includes advanced functions such as climate control and the creation and management of timed events.

* Truly universal capabilities. Consumers can control their entire environment from one handheld device, doing away with multiple remote devices and allowing the user to quickly and easily manage everything from the comfort of their sofa or lounge chair. A single device can control the television, home theater preferences, DVD playback, lighting, and climate control settings. "At Zensys, we strive to make Z-Wave the standard communication protocol for the home," says Tony Shakib, CEO of Zensys. "Our partnership with Universal Electronics has given us wonderful strides towards this effort."

"Z-Wave is one of the most consumer-friendly wireless technology protocols on the market," states Paul Arling, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Universal Electronics. "We are thrilled to develop our latest suite of home control products with this reliable technology."

www.uei.com