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Watch your favourite shows and play games all from the same device

Your telly could be treated to new games to play without the need to buy gaming equipment.

The Aero 4K TV Streamer — the second Freely-powered set-top box — has just released over 1,000 console and PC-quality games straight on your telly, with no PlayStation, Xbox, or gaming PC needed.

Freely launched in the first half of 2024. Built by the same team as Freeview and Freesat, this new platform is forecast to overtake both of these by the end of the decade.

In addition to Freely-powered shows, you can now pick a game from a library powered by Blacknut cloud gaming service, from publishers like Ubisoft, Disney, Square Enix, and more. And they stream directly to your TV. You won't need to buy any discs or download anything.

Manhattan's COO Alex Arbab-Zadeh said: "For thirty years our whole ethos has been that you shouldn't need a subscription to watch television. Gaming has had the opposite problem — before you could play anything decent you had to find several hundred pounds for a console, then pay again for every game.

"Blacknut on the Aero turns that round: over a thousand games on the box you already own, for the price of a single streaming subscription, and no console to buy. It's 'TV on your terms', extended from telly to games."

You'll need a Bluetooth controller to play, though there's a neat workaround — Blacknut's companion app turns your phone into a virtual gamepad. This is similar to the recently unveiled Vodafone TV and Pleio. Both of these are also Freely-powered TV boxes with over 300 games available to play.

However, like these other TV boxes, you'll need to pay for a monthly subscription.

The Blacknut cloud gaming service costs £12.99 a month, and that single subscription covers up to five player profiles. However, with the rising costs of gaming consoles like the PlayStation 5 and XBOX Series, this could be a more budget-friendly way to play new titles without digging as deep in your wallet.

Each gaming profile gets its own saved progress and parental controls, which is ideal for families.

And there's a handy feature called cloud saves, which means you can start a game on the Aero and pick it up later on a phone, tablet or laptop.

Beyond gaming, Aero you're also getting TV guide for TiVo Channels. These are the 400-plus free, ad-supported streaming channels that sit alongside your regular Freely line-up, and until now there was no way to see what was coming up next.

Now there's a full grid guide showing schedules for the current day and two days ahead. You can jump straight into any programme and mark favourites for quick access later.

To find it, hit the +FREE button on your remote or look for the TiVo Channels app in My Apps.

There's also a handy new sports carousel that pulls together live, upcoming and on-demand sport in one place. Voice search has been improved too — you can now say a channel number to tune straight to it.

One of those small ideal fixes is also tucked into V20 — the Aero remote now wakes the box over Bluetooth instead of infrared. That means you no longer need a clear line of sight to the device. You can tuck it behind your TV or inside a cabinet without any hassle.

Separately, Freely has welcomed eleven new free channels from Channel 5, all now available on the Aero. The full list includes 5Cops (69), 5Police Interceptors (70), 5Movies (77), 5A&E (84), 5Crime (85), 5Medical (107), 5Yorkshire Vet (108), 5Bargain-Loving Brits (118), 5Trucking Hell (119), 5History (128), and Milkshake! (360).

On top of all that, the Audio Guidance accessibility feature has been upgraded with a much more natural-sounding voice.

If you're not familiar, The Aero 4K TV Streamer is built by the British brand, Manhattan. Plug this box into the HDMI port on the back of your telly, and you're able to stream the biggest free-to-air channels, including GB News, ITV, BBC, Channel 4, and more. There's also an on-demand catalogue brimming with over 75,000 hours of on-demand content (believe it or not, that's more than Netflix). Unlike Freeview, Freely boasts several clever features that you'd usually only associate with paid-for platforms like Sky Glass or Sky Stream, including pausing live television and rewinding a show that's in progress.

With this type of set-top box , you can keep your current set-up, but benefit from the convenience of beaming all of your live television via Wi-Fi, rather than a traditional aerial. That means you'll be able to place your telly anywhere in the house (with a decent wireless signal that delivers 10Mbps) and you won't need to worry about bad weather disrupting your latest boxset obsession, sports fixture, or movie night.