“I suppose none of us wants to spend several hours or even days trying to program a universal remote control, when all we really want to do is turn things on and off, change channels and make the music louder” states Geoff Evans, president of the San Francisco-based tech firm NoviiMedia.

NoviiRemote Blaster provides a totally unique new answer. The Blaster is a small handheld gadget that, when combined with a palmOne handheld, controls your entire entertainment system. The Blaster is so easy to set up that you can take it with you and control your friend’s TV, change channels at the local sports bar, or adjust the volume at home when your favorite song is on the air. Once you learn the procedure, the setup process takes just seconds, as the devices you choose from are listed on the PDA screen.

The NoviiRemote Blaster is an SD card that drops into your palmOne handheld and instantly converts it into a universal remote control. Simplified to make it usable for everyday consumers, this gadget really stands out as a tiny but very powerful universal remote control. At a cost of only $59.99, the Blaster gives the user a chance to have full control of his or her entertainment experience.

Technical features of NoviiRemote Blaster

The Blaster card contains an infrared chip with the IR codes for over 100,000 home entertainment devices, which cover most equipment on the market.

Thanks to this code chip, the infrared signals are easily accessed and organized in the PDA memory, and displayed on the high-resolution screen. The result is an amazingly simple setup procedure, especially when compared with other high-end remote controls.

After installing the NoviiRemote Blaster software on the handheld from the CD-ROM, the user just chooses the brand of equipment and starts controlling the device.

For added convenience, the program also contains an autosearch function for finding the right codes, and the “Add Device Wizard” makes it simple to search for a codebase for your device if you don’t find the right codes immediately.

Thanks to the powerful infrared transmitter inside the Blaster, the user can operate the remote from any locations in a room, up to 75 feet away, while holding the PDA at a natural viewing angle and without having to point at the AV system.

The Blaster protrudes from the PDA by about half an inch, and feels very secure when inserted into the SD slot.

The current version of the Blaster is compatible with Tungsten E, T2, T, and Zire 71 & 72. A future version will be compatible with most handhelds containing an SD slot.

The use of the NoviiRemote Blaster

The Blaster solves the problem of long, laborious setup procedures for programming most remote controls, and also the problem of poor infrared range on PDAs. Take it with you wherever you go and you will be able to switch on the TV when a baseball match is on at a sport bar, turn off the volume of a screaming audio system at your friends’ party, and to switch off the TV when Christmas comes.