For the past few months rumours have abounded surrounding Virgin Media upgrading all of its cable customer’s boxes to a more standard edition which will feature in built HD functionality.
On the back of both the announcement that ITV will soon be providing HD content for both Sky and Virgin customers, and last weeks announcement from Channel 4 that Virgin Media customers will be getting exclusive access to the forthcoming E4 HD and Film4 HD channels, Virgin have launched the new Set Top box for its HD service. The box itself will be available from 22nd March 2010 for a one-off cost of just £49 plus installation to all existing Virgin media customers.
A sleek new design
The set top box itself will be made by Cisco and will feature HDMI, SCART, USB and Ethernet ports for connectivity as well as the best-in-class power saving function which is designed to cut down power usage by approximately 95% in standby and in a future proofing move, all of the new V HD box will come pre equipped with 3D playback functionality.
Currently the box is only available for standard digital users as a PVR version for V+ users is touted as coming very soon with the rumour of it also integrating TiVo technology.
Customers will be able to get the box in 2 ways, by either going for the £49 box plus a installation charge of £35 or from 1st April 2010, self-installation (Quick Start) may be an option, where available, for homes already connected to Virgin Media’s cable network. Quick Start is free to existing customers throughout April or £15 in all other circumstances.
Once the box is installed Virgin Media have promised free access to HD channels from ITV, Eurosport, Discovery, SCI FI, E4, Film4, BBC and Channel 4 and Virgin customers on the XL package will then also be able to access further HD channels such as: ESPN HD, National Geographic HD, FX HD, MTV Networks HD and LIVING HD plus further HD content via its on demand service!
This really does show what Virgin Medias intentions are for the HD market as this is a big step which surely Sky will have to match if not better.
Over to you Sky?
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