i-Ctrl, a small device that turns any infrared appliances into remotely controllable ones, has won the 2018 Smart Innovation Application Award in Taiwan and was recently showcased at the Smart Asia India Expo & Summit 2018.
i-Ctrl, which is sleek in design and small enough to be held in the palm, can be placed anywhere in the room to beam infrared signals to air conditioners, TVs, fans, etc. The device also connects to your smartphone through Wi-Fi so you may control the home appliances from the i-Ctrl app.
The product is the latest innovation of Taiwan-based AIFA Technology, which has specialized in making remote controls for a number of home devices. The company’s products have been sold in Japan, a market known for high-quality product requirement.
i-Ctrl was among the products showcased in the Taiwan Excellence pavilion at the Smart Asia India Expo & Summit, held Oct. 4-6 in Bengaluru. The event aimed to bridge Taiwan’s technological expertise with the drive to develop smart cities in India.
Among other Taiwanese brands like Acer, Advantech, Asus, BenQ, Gigabyte and D-Link in the pavilion, i-Ctrl reportedly drew a lot of visitor attention at the show.
The product is claimed to feature easy set-up, and users can connect i-Ctrl to home appliances on their own using their smartphone. The company’s code library stores infrared transmission signals from 95% of the world’s electronics makers, as such, i-Ctrl will be compatible with almost all TV, A/C, lamp, fan, set-top box, DVD player brands in India.
In the case i-Ctrl does not recognize the transmission signal from a home appliance, it can learn the new signal to allow for user control later on.
The convenience that i-Ctrl is selling is that users no longer need to fumble for remotes when they want to control something a home; instead, they may simply control the TV, A/C, etc. from their phone without getting out the sofa or wherever they are at.
Since i-Ctrl is Wi-Fi-enabled, users will also be able to remotely control their appliances when they are away from home. This function may be convenient for people who want to pre-heat or pre-cool their homes before they arrive at their residence, or for those who forget to turn off lighting or other devices after leaving home. From the i-Ctrl app, users may also schedule when a home electronics should turn on or off at a specific time.