After what feels like months of teasing, Virgin Media has finally spilled the beans on the first TiVo experience to hit the UK in years. And it truly is a TiVo experience… versus TiVo hardware. As this 1TB, three tuner DVR is manufactured by Cisco and sports a built-in modem. Surprisingly, they found the time and resources to incorporate TiVo’s new HDUI (in a new hue). And it looks sharp. Including the first glimpse of what the new TiVo program guide and channel banner might look like (see video above), should/when they complete the Premiere‘s interface. Additionally, it seems as if Virgin’s box will launch with a well-rounded selection of apps including BBC iPlayer, YouTube, eBay, Twitter, and weather.
Pocket Lint went hands on with Virgin Media:
It is, quite simply, stunning. Both super quick and intuitive, there’s a raft of cunning technologies whizzing about behind the scenes that make for the most pleasant TV experience on the market today.
While Virgin had intended to begin rolling out the “powered by TiVo” unit this year, their new landing page indicates launch is now set for “early 2011” – at £199, with a premium £3 monthly TiVo surcharge.
Click to enlarge: