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Cable companies are in a tough battle. They are fighting to keep their customers when many are deciding “to cut the cord” and rely on the Internet for their entertainment needs. Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, – all provide quality content delivered via the internet. In addition, cable TV providers need to control expenses and make it more affordable to provide their services against growing competition from satellite, local broadcast and especially, Internet connections.

Sony and other TV makers are currently rolling out RF4CE TVs. Comcast, EchoStar and other major entertainment and service providers have been testing RF4CE remotes and set top boxes, and are scheduled to start rolling them out to their customers in the near future.

If the cable companies want to avoid losing subscribers to the Internet, they need to give their customers something new – engaging new features and capabilities. This new generation of RF4CE remotes does just that, providing customers with improved ease of use and interactivity – two way communication between the remote control and the set top box.

By using small, low power display screens on the RF4CE remote control, the cable company can leverage the RF4CE’s interactivity and enable the cable company and the networks to talk to the customer and for the customer to respond. This can include programming reminders, advertisements, infotainment, voting and polls, as well as TV based gaming. For example, no longer limited to controlling the TV and media devices, Sony’s new RF4CE remotes can read credit cards and accept payments. In addition, this interactivity opens up a diverse range of features for home automation – such as using the set top box and the remote control to set and monitor security, energy management, HVAC controls, lights, etc.

Standard IR (infrared) remotes need to be used close to the set top box – not in another room. People often prefer to hide the cable box away inside a cabinet. IR does not go through wood. Sometimes IR will not even penetrate the glass covering on home entertainment furniture. IR also is subject to interference from sunlight and from certain types of lights – including those used to backlight flat screen TVs. RF empowers the cable subscriber with the power to control their content from anywhere in the home.

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