Sky Q is about to face its biggest challenge yet
SKY Q is the satellite broadcaster's top-of-the-line offering, with support for Ultra HD 4K, a new touchpad remote and seamless multi-room viewing. But rival Virgin Media is expected to launch a new service to rival Sky Q later this year.
Sky Q offers Ultra HD 4K, a new touchpad remote and seamless multi-room viewing
When Sky unveiled Sky Q late last year, the satellite broadcaster promised its new service would "set your TV free".
The flagship satellite service offers seamless multi-room, dubbed Fluid Viewing, and even lets customers take their recordings out of the house with them.
Sky has also included a bluetooth touchpad remote, support for Ultra HD 4K channels (set to launch later this year) and an entirely-new user interface, with large and immersive Netflix-style images. It also comes with a hefty new price tag, too.
Express.co.uk used the service and was very impressed with the updated functionality and new hardware.
And now it looks like rival Virgin Media is planning to launch a true competitor to the next-generation television service.
Sky Q viewers navigate around the new menu with swipes on the touch pad
Sir Richard Branson's television service has told investors that it is almost ready to launch an entirely-new set-top box with support for Ultra HD 4K.
The company described the updated service as a "new set-top box platform".That hints this latest upgrade with not merely be a simple firmware update, or a new case for the TiVO box.Virgin Media is rolling out a software update for its current hardware, before introducing new kit
Virgin Media is clearly planning to launch a true competitor to Sky Q.
The UK firm told What HiFi: "There will be a new set-top box coming later this year, and it will support Ultra High Definition video.
"Before that we will be updating the existing TiVo set-top box to make its menus slicker and more picture-based."
The current generation of TiVo box can record three channels simultaneously, whereas the Sky+ HD box can only handle two.
For comparison, Sky Q Silver can record a staggering four shows while you watch a fifth.
TiVo also sports a swathe of internet apps, including Netflix, Youtube and Twitter.