Patent ID: 7138927
Filing Date: 2006-11-21
Classification: G08C

Abstract:
1. A universal remote control (“URC”) to control at least one electronic appliance, comprising: a housing; a first control circuit which, responsive to a user's command, remotely controls the operation of the at least one electronic appliance, the first control circuit being located within the housing; a digital voice recorder, disposed within the housing, which records audio signal from both a user and the user's ambience, and plays back said audio signal, responsive to a user's command, said digital voice recorder and said first control circuit being operationally independent of each other; a power supply located within said housing, said power supply being adapted to provide power to said first control circuit and said digital voice recorder, further comprising a plurality of keys located on a top surface of the housing, representing a set of numerical keys corresponding to the numerals “0” through “9”; a scratch pad memory which, upon activation by the user, controllably stores the numerical keys entered by the user, independent of the operation of said first control circuit so as not to interfere with the operation of said appliance; a display located on the housing to display the numerical keys entered by the user.