TiVo
Attendees walk by a large TiVo advertisement during the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Jan. 7, 2011. Getty Images

TiVo's newest DVR, the Bolt, will make watching your favorite shows go by much more quickly. A new feature will allow users to press one button and skip through an entire commercial break, a shift from prior TiVo models, which allowed just a 30-second jump forward.

The Bolt, unveiled this week, can tag the beginning and end of commercial breaks, allowing users to skip the section. The feature, similar to one already available on Dish's Hopper DVR, will work for 20 channels, according to Sci-Tech Today. The Bolt will also be able to play back recordings 30 percent faster, with adjusted audio, which can cut down viewing time.

The new DVR, which will also be 4K video capable and features a faster interface, marks a shift in strategy for TiVo, which has been slow to change. Even the look of the device itself, an angular white box, is a marked stylistic departure.

"Our goal is to deliver sophisticated, modern devices that will continue to breathe new life into this brand," Ira Bahr, the company's chief marketing officer, said, according to the Verge. "This, as well as the updated branding, is also a nod to a new and refreshed direction for the consumer part of our company."

Bahr told a group of TiVo customers in a question-and-answer session that the changes were made in an attempt to draw in new users. He also said a new Bolt is planned for 2016 and will feature more storage.

"TiVo is simply unable to build its business on the backs of its ever-diminishing group of loyalists," Bahr said, according to the Verge. "We did 150,000 activations in our last fiscal year. Compare that to the millions of streamers out there and the tens of millions of DVRs out there, and you see that we’ve got a lot of ground to make up. In order to win for the company, and for YOU, we need to expand our market. If we fail to do this, we’re not going to be able to do much of anything."

The new DVR costs $300, which comes with a year of TiVo service and a 500GB drive to store shows, according to the Wall Street Journal.

RELATED STORIES