January 6-9, 2000 - As with most urgent trips, mine started off with a canceled flight. After waiting on the plane for a full forty minutes, a mere malfunctioning window defroster jackknifed my schedule and sent me on a journey lasting twice as long as originally planned. Finally arriving at 10pm in Las Vegas – after seeing more of the countryside than I really wanted too – I had to quickly prepare for the show which began bright and early the next day. CES 2000 is a gargantuan production with over a million square feet of floor space crammed with hundreds of exhibitors showing their latest and greatest products. Let’s see what’s out there!

General Electric (GE) Jasco Products enhances GE's remote control lineup with five new models including an 8-device offering. Jensen Introduces several new economical "Surf Series" remote controls, ranging from one to six devices. JVC New DVD players, flagship receiver model, CD recorder and rear projection television sets. Kenwood USA Kenwood released several new home audio/video receivers and picked up awards for two innovative high-end mini systems. Leviton Advanced home distribution system, Decora Media System, digital volume control and new lighting control products. Marantz Marantz's first 5-disc DVD changer, RC-1200 learning remote, SR-14EX receiver, two CD recorders, 64" HDTV set. NUON NUON is a new technology that allows stand-alone DVD players to play games, browse the web and more. Panasonic Panasonic introduces a new lineup of DVD players, a HDTV/DSS receiver, new VCRs and a non-linear digital media editor. Panja The Panja 1000 remote system incorporates a color LCD touchscreen and broadband connection to the internet. Philips Electronics All the latest news on an upcoming new Pronto model plus other future Philips home theater components. Pioneer Home Electronics Pioneer displayed several CD & DVD giga changers, a new CDR/RW audio recorder plus a 64" rear-projection HDTV set. Proton Pronto introduces their new Dolby Digital/DTS receiver and a new progressive scan DVD player. RCA New 38" direct-view HDTV set, 61" and 65" rear projection models & 42" plasma screen; CD recorder & DVD gamer. Sharp USA Sharp demonstrated their new 50" plasma and LCD rear projection screens, along with new VCRs and mini-systems. Sony Exclusive news on Sony's successor to the RM-AV2000 LCD remote, plus new DVD players and more. Toshiba New progressive scan DVD players and SVHS-ET VCR lineup lead Toshiba's product offerings for 2000. Universal Electronics UEI displayed their new Mosaic LCD touchscreen learning remote along with a few other interesting models. Universal Remote Preview of the new MX-1000 touchscreen learning remote control, which features joystick menu control. Xantech Xantech's URC-2 remote control is a handheld companion to their SmartPad keypads and includes PC-based configuration. Yamaha New RX-V1 8-channel flagship receiver, DVD-S796 DVD player and CDR-S1000 CD recorder. Zenith New learning remote control with LCD display, plus new DVD players and plasma screens. ZiLOG Zilog was demonstrating a new home automation system that makes use of a PDA and RF adapter. Other Universal Remotes Quick looks at remote control products by Lexicon, Niles, JAECS and Hy-Tek. Remote controls covered in this report: GE RM94927 Jensen "Surf Series" Philips Color Pronto Marantz RC-1200 Panja 1000 System Sony RM-AV2100 Universal Electronics Mosaic Universal Remote MX-1000 Xantech URC-2 Zenith ZEN810 So ends my CES report. It certainly was an interesting show with loads of new technology displayed – only a very small portion of it is covered in this feature. 2000 should prove an exciting year as regards universal remotes, with quite a few intriguing products planned for release. And where’s the only place you’ll be able to find everything you need to know about these controls as they’re introduced? Why only Remote Central, of course!

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