Turns out, dumb devices were never the problem.

Home Assistant’s 2026.4 update introduces native infrared (IR) support, enabling control of TVs, air conditioners, and other IR-based devices without hardware modifications. Using affordable IR ...

Google Assistant smart speakers often only serve a couple of key purposes – to accept commands and play music. With Xiaomi’s new Google Assistant smart speaker, you also get the power to control your ...

Depressing a button on a modern Consumer IR, CIR, remote control causes a 940nm LED to blink. As the LED toggles a pulse stream of infrared light is generated. The pulse stream is a pattern which ...

[Peter]’s folks’ cable company is terrible – such a surprise for a cable TV provider – and the digital part of their cable subscription will only work with the company’s cable boxes. The cable company ...

There are lots of smart home systems that will let you blast your older dumb appliances with infrared to control them.

This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, Wirecutter and Engadget may earn affiliate commission. Read the full ...

Buy one of these 10 best smartphones with infrared blaster and remote control functionality and you will never have to look for your remote controller again. If you didn’t own a mobile phone 10 years ...

This small circuit is ideal for checking the basic operation of an infrared remote control unit. The circuit is based on the brilliantly simple idea of connecting a piezo buzzer directly to an IR ...

This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer's guide to the best technology. Read the full article here. If you're looking for an easy-to-use universal remote to control up to eight ...