Free Sky and Virgin rival officially breaks cover – this is the box that could do it all with no monthly fees

We recently brought you news of a new set-top-box for the UK that'll combine Freely streamed TV channels with the ability to record up to four channels at once. This will not give Sky Q and Virgin TV 360 customers food for thought – as it presents a way to cut down the monthly fees – it could also be considered a rival for Sky Glass and Sky Stream.

While not yet officially announced, the Humax FHR-6000T appeared on the websites of several UK electronics retailers, which listed its retail price of £249. Some even called it a Freely PVR – just in case the badge on the front wasn't enough of a giveaway already.

But while this was a month ago, we haven't heard much else about the box since. Well, until now that is.

It seems like a full announcement is just around the corner as Humax itself has been found to include the new box on its own website. A device called the Humax Aura EZ 4K Freely Recorder was spotted in the company's support pages, before being hastily removed again.

Cord Busters saw the listing and contacted Humax directly. It revealed that the Freely box is indeed real, but is currently "under internal testing and development". And while it shared nothing else, that is full confirmation that it plans to release it at some point – potentially this year.

The only additional details we know so far is that it will carry the Freely streaming service – which essentially offers the biggest UK channels, from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, 5 and the U network, but streamed over the internet rather than through an aerial or satellite dish.

You can also catch up with any of the content from the channels by heading backwards through the EPG. Clicking on a show will open the respective broadcaster's free streaming platform, such as BBC iPlayer or ITVX, and instantly play that content.

The Humax box is thought to be a hybrid device as the PVR functionality will surely need terrestrial programming via an antenna – so recording something will do so from the conventional TV signal rather than internet stream.

When will a Freely streaming device be available?

We'll undoubtedly find out more soon, given the timing of this additional leak. We also hope to find out more about Netgem's plans for its Freely streaming box in the coming weeks.

Freely and Netgem announced a partnership back in August and we're eager to see what they have up their sleeves.

Certainly, these are interesting times for Freely, which has so far been exclusive to smart TVs from a handful of manufacturers. By expanding into set-top-boxes it will start to look even more a viable and free alternative to paid TV providers, such as Sky and Virgin Media.

After all, it's a lot easier to switch one set-top-box for another than investing in a whole new TV.