Do you use a bunch of different media devices and services? A new system called Caavo, from the team that helped design the original Sling Box, aims to simplify things.
Here's how it works: up to eight of your media streaming devices connect into Caavo, which connects to your TV. From there, log into all your services, like Netflix and your pay TV provider, and Caavo will pull together a watchlist of recently viewed content.
At $399, the system isn't exactly a bargain, but Caavo's value proposition is that it brings your favorite streaming apps and DVR content into one interface and offers universal search. That means it will find content across all services, regardless of where it lives. You don't have to switch inputs, and you can start playing shows and movies simply by speaking into the remote. If you're in the middle of a show or movie, it will keep track of where you're at and start playing where you left off.
"Living room entertainment is disjointed, and even within our own homes each of us watches TV differently," Caavo co-founder and CEO Andrew Einaudi said in a statement. "It took embracing all of it, in any combination, to make it work together seamlessly."
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Aesthetically, Caavo has a nice-looking wood top in a variety of finishes and is meant to "feel like a tasteful piece of furniture for the living room." Pre-orders are slated to kick off this summer and Caavo begins shipping later this year.
Merging various services into one is not a new concept. At CES, Dish subsidiary AirTV showed off the AirTV Player set-top box, a 4K Android TV-based streaming device that "integrates your streaming services in one place." Apple's new TV app on iOS, meanwhile, provides a unified TV-watching experience across apps.