It’s not often these days to see a completely new initiative in the TV technology space, so when one comes along, it obviously draws attention. Case in point is the Caavo set-top box, which just pulled in a $15 million investment.

The central premise of the device is that it allows you to manage all your set-top boxes, game consoles, streaming sticks, etc from one box, with one remote. It has a whopping 8 HDMI-in ports so you can connect every last device you’ve got into the nicely styled box. The technology on which the device is based is quite nifty and ambitious, using image recognition techniques to figure out what’s showing in the UI of whatever device you are using through the Caavo.

Unfortunately there is also a problem. A $400 price problem. However interesting the technology and stylish the design, this box does not solve a $400 issue. HDMI switching is just not that problematic. It’s an inconvenience for sure, just not a $400 inconvenience. And that’s ignoring that to even experience the inconvenience this device is aimed at solving, you first have to spend hundreds of dollars to buy all those devices to connect to the Caavo.

The people at Caavo know this of course and are currently aiming the first run of the device at the high end of the market, likely with the aim of perfecting it and dropping the price to mass market level later. My worry is that the problem they are solving may not even be a $100 problem, limiting the appeal of their solution even at a much lower price point. It’s great to see something new in the TV technology space, but I don’t think this box is going to revolutionise it.

In other news:

More and more details of the Nintendo Switch are finding their way into the wild.

Sony is significantly scaling back the ambition of its PlayStation Now game streaming service by removing support for Sony and Samsung Smart TVs and Blu-ray players and the PlayStation 3, Vita and TV. That leaves only PlayStation 4 and PC supported.

Microsoft is hoping to dominate press coverage of E3 in June by showing off its upcoming Project Scorpio Xbox.

Apple is apparently finally preparing to join the 4K and HDR party with Apple TV.

Panasonic detailed its 2017 lineup.

Facebook is launching a video app on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Samsung Smart TVs.

Interested in reading more TV technology news? Keep an eye out for my weekly posts at technology.siekerman.nl (RSS) and follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

