Virgin teases upcoming TiVo box with screenshots of the interface

It's not much of a secret that Virgin is soon to launch its own dedicated TiVo hardware with a whole new user interface. What is new is the launch is now in sight, because Virgin Media has just sent our some screenshots of the user interface for us to gawk at.

The company has already sent out a teaser image for the hardware, although we found that frustratingly unrevealing. But these new images show much more information about the new service.

It's pretty clear from the shots that the new interface will be streets ahead of the current Virgin menus, although that wouldn't be hard. The current Virgin system is looking shabby now, especially when paired with an HD TV. TiVo adds a rich new style, with plenty of photos and a greatly improved navigation system, something else Virgin has been crying out for.

We can only hope the hardware that runs TiVo is faster than the current boxes, which really suffer with delays. For TiVo to work, it has to be as quick or quicker than Sky+, which sets the bar pretty high.

Virgin has a superb TV service with oodles of on-demand video. All it needs now is a fast, user-friendly interface and Sky will have a real competitor again. We can't wait.