Virgin media, the third-largest media provider in the UK, announced today that they are launching a new generation entertainment platform which takes video-on-demand one step further.
The new platform combines a TiVo with internet broadband which will ultimately bring a completely different user experience to your living room.
Content will be delivered using a 10 mbps cable broadband modem which is built into the video recorder which is plentiful to stream video from sites such as YouTube and BBC iPlayer. Additionally, the TiVo comes with 1TB of storage to store all of your media needs.
The idea behind the platform is that you can access content you couldn’t access otherwise – for instance, access to BBC iPlayer, YouTube, eBay, Twitter and even Facebook. The list will continue to grow as newer applications are built using a platform built around Adobe Flash.
As expected, the pricing for this package doesn’t come cheap with the TiVo box alone costing £199 and with a £40 installation fee the price soon starts to rack up. You can also purchase a XL TiVo package which costs £26.50 per month with a Virgin phone line, although it includes over 160 channels.
Cindy Rose, Executive director of digital entertainment at Virgin said "This is a landmark moment in the UK"s digital revolution and vividly illustrates how Virgin Media is the only company who can provide the ultimate digital lifestyle,” She later said “We"re really excited to bring our customers what is just the first of successive generations of transformational services based on this unique TiVo-powered platform,"
The platform will begin rolling out in mid-December. It will be interesting to see how many of these are sold over the Christmas period.
Image credit: Virgin Media