The 4K game is heating up: the Nvidia Shield and the Nuvola NP-1 were the original boxes to support 4K streaming, along with services built into some TVs. Then came Amazon, which announced 4K streaming capabilities for its Fire TV box. Now we have a company known for recording—not streaming—entering the game. TiVo has released its new Bolt DVR, which streams 4K content in addition to recording your favorite shows and letting you watch them back at lightning speeds.

TiVo gave the Bolt a serious aesthetic upgrade compared to its existing Roamio Pro box. It's a sleek, modern rectangle with an off-center curve, making it look like an artistic, avant-garde Apple product. It has a four-tuner DVR, meaning you can record up to four shows at once, and it improves on the specs of the Roamio Pro by sporting gigabit Ethernet, optical audio out, and faster 802.11ac WiFi. It's available in a 500GB model or 1TB model, and each will also let you stream recorded content to mobile devices on the same network as the Bolt.

The Bolt supports HDMI 2.0 as well as HDCP 2.2, which protects 4K content from being copied against the programmer's wishes. It should also help the box play 4K content at 60fps, which isn't common in most 4K streaming devices yet. Currently, Bolt has Netflix and YouTube apps built in, so you'll be able to stream 4K content from those sources immediately.

Bolt's new software is focused on letting you binge to your heart's content, but binge efficiently. Its new QuickMode lets you watch a recorded program at 1.3x its normal speed, which sounds convenient for those who have dozens of new episodes to watch each week. It also has SkipMode, which tags exactly when commercials begin and end during recorded shows and lets you skip over those few minutes during playback. SkipMode doesn't work with every show, though—sports fans and news buffs will still need to sit through a couple minutes of ads while watching their games and newscasts.

TiVo is still focused on recording cable shows with the Bolt, even if it supports a couple of streaming apps. However, not a lot of cable content is shot in 4K, and it can be difficult to find 4K content even on streaming apps and devices. TiVo was smart to include Netflix and YouTube at the Bolt's launch, since they both have a good amount of 4K content. But overall as a streaming device, the Bolt is limited—hopefully in the future, including apps like Hulu, Amazon, and Vudu will bolster its streaming chops. According to Engadget, the Bolt will be able to connect to Apple's AirPlay via its iOS app, allowing users to stream content to the Apple TV. Still, only the Apple TV is supported—Amazon Fire TV users are out of luck.

While Bolt seems to mesh recording and 4K streaming fairly well, it will likely have new streaming competition soon: rumors have been swirling of Roku getting into 4K content with a new box. For now, you can preorder the TiVo Bolt, with the 500GB TiVo Bolt model costing $299 and the 1TB version priced at $399. Both include a free year of TiVo service, but after that you will have to pay $15 per month or $150 per year to continue recording.