URC Adds Network Remote To Line

By John Laposky On Sep 4 2008 - 6:00am

Universal Remote Control (URC), is introducing at CEDIA Expo the Complete Control MX-6000 two-way touchscreen remote for Media Center PC-based home networks.

The MX-6000 uses dual RF transmitters — 802.11b/g Wi-Fi for network control, plus narrow-band RF for traditional control.

The MX-6000's narrow-band 418 MHz RF transmitter enables control of conventional IR, RS-232, relay and USB keyboard-controlled home theater components. High-speed transfers of other metadata are received via Wi-Fi. RF communications are enabled by URC's companion MSC-400 Master System Controller or the MRF-350 or MRF-260 Base Stations. The MSC-400 stores and issues the MX-6000's RF-based Smart Macros to components.

Featuring a 4.3-inch widescreen TFT with a 480 by 272 pixel window and more than 16 million colors, the MX-6000 can display GIF, animated GIF, JPEG, BMP and FLASH SWF files on any button. Installers can add talking help buttons that can be recorded on a PC with a microphone, or add music to macros via WAV files.

With pre-programmed modules, the MX-6000 can control, browse and display cover art and metadata from a Windows Media Center PC, a Windows Vista Home Deluxe PC, or any PC connected to the home network with iTunes or Windows Media Player.

Users can browse and play music and video without needing to know which player is required; all content is aggregated and presented as one library.

Installers can offer full Media Center PC electronic program guides on the MX-6000 screen.

"The MX-6000 puts menus and cover art in the user's hands instead of cluttering the TV screen —a nd it gives any PC an intuitive, friendly A/V server interface," said Jon Sienkiewicz, marketing director for URC.

When the MX-6000 is combined with URC's new PSX-1 iPod adapter, an iPod can act as a personal A/V server. The PSX-1 offers an HD-quality component video output and syncs to any computer on the home network directly from the dock.

The MX-6000 features a horizontal aspect ratio and includes hard buttons for volume and channel up/down, mute, info, guide and exit, and a combination scroll wheel/four-way cursor for browsing are assigned to the natural resting places of a user's thumbs, the company said.

The MX-6000 weighs less than 15 ounces. Its lithium-ion battery provides about four hours of continuous use per charge. An included charging base was designed to support an ideal angle for use of the touch screen while charging.

A motion sensor detects any movements of the MX-6000 and automatically backlights the screen using cold cathode fluorescent lamp technology.

The MX-6000 has an suggested retail of $1,499. The price of the PSX-1 will be announced soon. Both will ship this month.

URC is in booth 324.