TiVo is about to launch its TiVo Stream box in the US, a device that allows subscribers to its service to stream HD recordings or live TV from their main set-top-box to iOS devices: the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

An Android application is also "in the works", but on launch there will only be Apple device support.

The TiVo Stream works with the TiVo Premiere boxes in the States, and will be available for a one-off fee of $130 (from tivo.com and then, later, Best Buy). It allows an owner to watch live or recorded shows on up to four mobile devices in the home (ie, connected to the same network), and even offers the ability to download a recording to a device for remote viewing.

Shows can be downloaded in one of two qualities, standard or "best" and they, naturally, vary in file size. As revealed in an All Things Digital review, a 30-minute standard definition programme weighs in at 305MB, a 30-minute best definition show, 537MB. These will obviously take different amounts of time to download to a mobile device, but do so wirelessly.

There are few devices that can potentially do the same in the UK. The forthcoming View21 Freeview HD+ recorder offers a similar iPhone and iPad application that allows you to control it from a tablet or smartphone, and watch recordings remotely. And Sky has been talking about adding similar functionality to its Sky Go apps.

However, with TiVo in the States jumping ahead of the bunch, Pocket-lint asked Virgin Media whether it was looking to bring the TiVo Stream to these shores to work with the company's TiVo-powered set-top-boxes.

"We're investigating this type of functionality for our customers, but nothing confirmed as yet," we were told by a Virgin Media spokesperson.

One thing the service provider did confirm is that the US TiVo Stream will not work with a UK TiVo box, so there's no point importing one to try out.

Instead, watch this space...

Should Virgin Media bring the TiVo Stream to the UK? Let us know in the comments below...