Page 21 - Mobile World Daily - Day 3

ADVERTORIAL

Redefining

CONTROL Smart Device Solutions

Is this the era of the InfraRed (IR) Blaster? Why would anyone want a piece of applications available in the Google Play® store. The intelligence behind this small IR
old technology in their latest state-of-the-art smart phone, phablet or tablet? blaster (Hardware) is UEI’s QuickSet™ SDK* software that just celebrated the shipping of its
There are multiple reasons, so stay tuned; we will reveal the answer at the end 150 millionth device, announced during CES 2015. Quickset enabled smart products
of this article. including smartphones, phablets and tablets, as well smart watches, game consoles, smart
TV and set top boxes.
First let’s go back in time – the year 2013 was not the official launch of IR blasters in
mobile devices. This actually happened sometime way back in early 1990 with IrDA on So far so good – I’m sure that up to now you haven’t heard anything really new.
featured phones and again in early 2000 with the Compaq pockets PCs and palm devices.
So 2013 was actually the rebirth year of IR Blaster where we started seeing all the phone When we spoke to Marcel Hilbrink – vice president of business development at Universal
manufacturers adding IR transmitting abilities to their high- and mid-end smart phones. Electronics he revealed some interesting new developments “Besides the control of your
Samsung, LG, HTC, Sony and several Chinese mobile manufacturers all jumped on board audio video (AV) system with your smart phone there are less obvious reasons for using an
and now anyone and everyone can buy an Android phone, phablet or tablet with an IR IR Blaster. For example to provide a control eco system solution for triple or quadruple play
transmitter built right in. There are also now built-in applications to use these devices to service providers that want to bridge the mobile and TV products with a Universal Remote
control all audio video equipment next to home control and air conditioning systems. Control application including electronic program guide (EPG) and content recommendation
engine. We are working with multiple customers at the moments and we will deploy new
Recently other alternatives to the good old IR control emerged. Things like RF (Bluetooth, products and services that will make it easier for subscribers to find content and control
ZigBee) and IP-based controllers (using Wi-Fi or even cellular data) remove some of the their entertainment system with ease across multiple devices (TV, set top box and
restrictions that IR has with almost unlimited range, and the “NEW” cloud-based controls smartphone/tablets).
like IoT devices are the next big thing. But IR isn't going anywhere anytime soon and,
because it's cheap, with a huge installed base of trillions of devices around the world, with Our Quickset™ solution is built on top of
no complex pairing method with only a few limitations like line-of-site and distance aside, our Device Code Database and provides the
it works really well. intelligence between all these products
that have their own control application and
also share control configurations amongst
your products in the same network without
going through a painful installation
process. It is also future proof with UEI’s
cloud-based services providing the
subscriber or end user access to the latest
Device Code Library to support any new
device they want to control.

Universal Electronic Inc. with HQ based in Southern California has been at the forefront Besides supporting IR devices with our
of Universal Remote Control solutions for many years and is the main supplier of IR Blaster Quickset™ solutions we are also adding
technology behind many of the smart phone manufacturers of today. When we did some new control methods using IP based
research on this topic we found that Universal Electronics was the producer of the first LCD control and CEC control to our database.
touch screen Universal Remote Control back in 1998, and the company deployed the first The UEI Device Code Database is adding
dedicated IR blaster into the Compaq iPAQs back in the early 2000s under the application another layer of intelligence through Device Code Profiles. This ensuress the subscriber or
name NEVO™. the end user always has the best possible way to control their entertainment system, home
control and air-conditioners.

Last year UEI announced the smallest With this latest addition I’m proud to announce Quickset™ Release 3.0 -that will take
fully integrated IR blaster iTWO with a control to the next level and as such Redefines Control on all smart devices”
package size of 1.6x1.6mm, 16 balls WLP
packaging that supports all the required This is all very exciting and I’m sure that we got your imagination running wild on new
functions by built-in applications next to use cases that will transform the remote control paradigm as we know it today.
downloadable applications. The addition of
the IR Manager in Kit Kat - Android 4.4 Have a great MWC and please feel free to contact Mr. Hilbrink at mhilbrink@uei.com for
(ConsumerIrManager) has increased the any questions you might have or visit their website www.uei.com/europe-middle-east-
amount of remote control type of africa/tablets-and-smartphones

MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS DAILY 2015 | www.mobileworldcongress.com Wednesday 4th March PAGE 21