DEPARTMENT The Dog Ate the Remote? No Problem (NAPSA)—It’s an all-too-familiar scenario: The big gameor other must-see TV event is about to kick off, but the remote control is nowhere in sight. As a frantic search begins—between sofa cushions, behind chairs and under tables—precious moments of the show are missed. According to a recent survey by Universal Electronics Inc. (UED, a leading provider of home control technology, nearly 40 percent of TV owners have lost or misplaced their remote at some time. Of those, 60 percent spent more than 20 minutes finding it. For some, the search took days. Misplaced remotes turned up inside cushions, under beds—in onecase, yes, even inside the family dog. “We can never find the remote in our house,” said Kelly McBee, a housewife, mother of three and dog owner. “It’s either under the bed, under the covers or under a pile of dirty clothes. Sometimes, the kids take the remotes from room to room, or the dog decides it’s time to play hide and seek.” Today, universal remotes not only consolidate all your remotes into one, but some even come with a “remote finder” feature, which utilizes a separate unit mounted to your TV. When activated, the remote finder sends a signal to your lost remote, up to 30 feet away, initiating a beeping sound in the remote. “The remote finder feature eliminates a lot of the frustration you face when you misplace the remote—orif the dog eats it. However, we can’t guarantee you'll like where it turns up,” said Rob Lilleness, president and chief operations officer at UEI. “We introduced the first universal remote 17 years ago to help simplify the home entertainment experience, and provide theintelligent tech- The next time you feel there’s a remote chance you'll ever find your remote, you can turn to a clever remote locater. nology inside most universal remotes on the market.” One product with the remote finder feature is RadioShack’s 8-in1 Kameleon remote control, priced at $79.99. It’s capable of operating up to eight home entertainment devices of almost any brand, thereby eliminating the need for a stack of separate—and easily misplaced—remote controls. In addition to locating lost remotes, it allows users to skip or mute commercials, and intelligently illuminates only the buttons needed to operate features for the intended electronic device, whether that is a television, stereo receiver, satellite or cable TV set-top box, CD, VCR, PVR or DVD player. To learn more about Radio- Shack’s 8-in-1 universal remote, powered by UEI’s Kameleon technology, visit http://www.radio shack.com/ or http://www.my kameleon.com/.
