The IR adapter may not work with a standard remote control. If it's for a mobile phone then it's probably an IrDA adapter and not capable of doing consumer IR. However, if you've got a PDA with IrDA then you may be able to get something like Palantir made up.
Luckily, a consumer IR adapter is cheap to make. You should also be able to buy one, don't have a link at the moment though.