TiVo targets cord-cutters (again) with the Bolt OTA

By Devindra Hardawar, Engadget

What happens when you take TiVo's latest Bolt Vox DVR, remove the cable functionality, but keep just about everything else? You've got the new Bolt OTA, the replacement for the Roamio OTA box, which gives cord-cutters access to all of the TiVo DVR features they know and love. It features four separate tuners for recording multiple shows at once, a voice remote, Alexa integration, and it can store up to 150 hours of HD video on a 1TB hard drive. While there isn't any 4K over-the-air content yet, it supports 4K HDR for streaming video services like Netflix and Hulu.

The only downside, as usual, is the price: $250 for the hardware, and either $7 a month or $70 a year service plan. You could also go all in with TiVo and pay a flat $250 for lifetime service.

© Oculus/ILMxLAB

While TiVo fans are used to the company's fees, they remain a stumbling block for new users. And the company isn't making things easier with the high entry cost -- the original Roamio OTA was just $50, along with monthly fees. It could be that TiVo is more focused on making dedicated fans pay a premium, rather than try to appeal to mainstream viewers. At this point, the company makes most of its money from licensing deals with cable operators, only 15 percent of its business comes from consumer devices.

You can snag the Bolt OTA starting on September 28th.