Skip to main content

Caavo’s Control Center puts itself at the center of your TV viewing experience

In early 2017, a company called Caavo unveiled a device of the same name aimed at unifying all your streaming devices. It took a novel approach to solve the problem, and while the box itself was undeniably beautiful, it was also fairly expensive at $400, and the setup was anything but intuitive. Now the company is releasing a follow-up in the Caavo Control Center, and while the feature set isn’t nearly as rich, it may be a much better product than its predecessor.

Like the original Caavo, the Control Center is designed to make your TV viewing experience simpler by tying your various devices — including streaming media players and set-top boxes — together in a single interface. The device uses a combination of infrared, Bluetooth, HDMI CEC, and machine vision, along with your internet connection to not only control all of your devices with a single remote, but search across all of the content available via your various boxes. It also features support for high dynamic range (HDR) signals, which the original Caavo did not.

The Control Center supports plugging in up to four devices, and supports popular platforms like Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, game consoles, DVD and Blu-ray players, TiVo devices, and set-top boxes from DirecTV, Dish, Spectrum, and Xfinity. The box also has connections for your TV and your A/V receiver or soundbar. Setup is still slightly complicated, as you’ll need to make sure that the Control Center is in the line of sight for the remote, and that its IR emitter is facing the various devices you need to control.

“When Caavo introduced our first entertainment hub in February of this year, we solved unified search and control across multiple platforms, which is great if you know what you want to watch,” Caavo Inc. co-founder and CEO Andrew Einaudi said in a statement. “Today, there is so much great content available, we made our unified search even stronger and introduced hand-picked guides, editorial recommendations, and community features to promote sharing and discovery of great entertainment with Control Center.”

In addition to using machine vision, the Control Center also works with artificially intelligent assistants such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, letting you control your entire home theater system with just your voice. As an example, simply saying “Watch The Big Lebowski” can turn on your TV, find the movie on a streaming service, and start playing it, all without a second command. If you’re not sure what to watch, Caavo provides suggestions via the “Watch” section of the menu, which offers up editorial guides and hand-picked suggestions, as well as alerts for new episodes of your favorite shows.

The Caavo Control Center is a quarter of the price of the original Caavo at just $100, but there is a slight catch: You’ll also need to pay for a $2 per month service plan in order to use the device. The Control Center is available now at Best Buy and via the Caavo website.

Editors' Recommendations

Kris Wouk
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…
Want to put a USB-C port on your AirPods case? This video shows you how
AirPods 3, AirPods, and AirPods Pro sitting in their charging cases.

Tired of using the Apple-exclusive Lighting cable to charge your AirPods? Now, you don't have to. That is, if you're willing to put the work into taking the case apart and swapping the Lightning port for a USB-C. Ken Pillonel (the mind behind the Exploring the Simulation YouTube channel) is an engineer on YouTube who went viral late last year for putting a USB-C port on an iPhone. He also brought USB-C to AirPods this past May, and now, he's willing to share his secret with everyone through an open-source "how to" guide.

The written guide can be found here at airpodsdirtysecret.com, but be warned: it's not exactly an easy build. As detailed in Pillonel's video, there's a lot that goes into modding Apple products. To successfully do the mod, you'll need to cut open your AirPods case, 3D print new pieces, solder new pieces together, and much more. In summation, this isn't a beginner-level project. However, if you have experience with putting together and modding hardware, it's certainly doable.

Read more
V-Moda’s pricey new S-80 puts a Bluetooth speaker into your headphones
A man is wearing a black pair of V-MODA S-80 headphones around his neck.

As a brand, V-Moda has not shied away from big swings -- particularly in the design department -- and now with the S-80 two-way headphones, they’re taking a rather unique swing. Available soon via the V-Moda site, the S-80 is a brand-new pair of wireless-only Bluetooth headphones that looks similar to much of V-Moda line but behaves quite differently.

Sporting the V-Moda signature hexagonal enclosure shape, the S-80 passes pretty convincingly as any other member of the line … if you squint. On closer inspection, a soft, contoured approach to the edges -- alongside angled control buttons and an asymmetrical metallic headband connector on each earcup -- makes the S-80 headphones visually unique. V-Moda is also selling magnetic plates (with pretty zany design options) that are interchangeable so you can customize the outer look to your taste.

Read more
HDMI 2.1: What it is and why your next TV should have it
The Samsung QN90A TV in a living room.

HDMI 2.1 is quickly becoming a new standard for state-of-the-art TVs, A/V receivers, and next-gen gaming systems from the likes of Microsoft and Sony. But it wasn't too long ago that the world of consumer tech was touting the glories of HDMI 2.0 and 2.0b. In fact, many of us still own TVs and other hardware that only feature these lesser-rated inputs. So what exactly does that mean when it comes to experiencing the best that high-definition wiring has to offer?

Because HDMI 2.1 is still relatively new, it's understandable that there are many questions to ask about the latest standard. Maybe you're worried about whether your new 4K TV, streaming media player, or 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player is already out of date. Or maybe you're concerned that you'll need to purchase a bunch of new HDMI cables. Basically -- what is HDMI 2.1, and do you need it?

Read more