Foxtel's upcoming iQ2 high definition personal video recorder poses some serious competition to the almighty TiVo

Speaking at a Sydney preview event this week, Foxtel managing director Kim Williams revealed details of Foxtel's HD+ service, due to launch mid-year with four channels of sport, movies and docos. To access the service, Foxtel subscribers need to upgrade to the new Foxtel iQ2 PVR. The iQ features a 320GB hard drive good for up to 30 hours of HD recording or 90 hours of standard definition. The stand out feature is the inclusion of four HD tuners - allowing users to record two Foxtel or free-to-air programs whilst watching a third. The fourth tuner will be used to trickle Foxtel Box Office HD movies to the box in advance, giving subscribers access to instant on-demand 1080i high definition pay-per-view movies.

Interestingly, Williams also revealed the pay TV provider has rebroadcast agreements for all HD free-to-air channels except the Seven Network - which is no surprise considering the bad blood between the two. It's no coincidence that Seven is backing the high definition TiVo in Australia. Like TiVo, Foxtel's iQ2 features an Electronic Program Guide with the ability to schedule recordings remotely, plus the ability to automatically record an entire series.

TiVo is due to launch in Australia in time for the Beijing Olympics in August, which means it's likely to hit the market around the same time as the iQ2 - sending the push towards high definition viewing into overdrive. What's really impressive is Foxtel's HD channels will only feature real high definition content, a mixture of native 720p and 1080i resolutions using MPEG4 compression, unlike the free-to-air networks which regularly screen standard definition content on their new HD channels. To quote Williams; "We have taken particular care to ensure our HD channels are the best looking HD channels in Australia." This will be a welcome change considering how bad the current Foxtel picture looks when blown up on a big television.

Considering the iQ2 seems to do everything the TiVo does, with the added bonus of pay TV channels and extra tuners, TiVo will need to keep its monthly fee down - especially as Foxtel also plans to make the iQ2 available to subscribers who don't pay extra for the HD channels. If you can pick up the iQ2 and a basic Foxtel subscription for around $50, TiVo will have to be significantly cheaper. The fact the free-to-air networks have done such a crap job of introducing HD channels, with crap content, plays right into Foxtel's hands.

For me the decider between the two will be how they handle intelligent storage management (automatically deleting old recordings) and padded recordings (starting recordings early and running over). Both are essential in Australia if you want to be sure of recording your favourite shows. Another important factor is whether Foxtel's rebroadcast free-to-air HD channels look as sharp as terrestrial broadcasts.

Having fallen out of love with my high-def Vista media centre I'm on the hunt for a worthy replacement. It looks like TiVo will need to offer something special if it's going to fight off the iQ2 for pride of place in Australia's lounge rooms.