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—and find the zapper can’t 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’s 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—but until…
