After putting the final nail in the coffin of the brick-and-mortar movie rental business, Redbox is moving onto its next target: the internet.
Redbox Instant by Verizon was announced last February, and the new streaming service went into beta last month. According to the service's CEO Shawn Strickland, it should launch later this quarter, reported Venture Beat.
Strickland sat down with a small group of journalists to let loose a few details about the joint venture between Redbox and Verizon.
Seeing Redbox
Redbox Instant will cost $8 a month, and subscribers will be able to stream from a library of 4,500 films at any time.
The company said it will be adding more tiles every day. So expect the library to number a little north of the 4,500 movies mark when it's ready to launch by March.
Though Redbox is wading into deep waters to compete with predators such as Netfilx, Hulu and Amazon, it has a few tricks up its sleeve to help it be competitive.
Redbox Instant subscribers will get four DVD rental credits per month. So users who just can't wait to see that new release can still go to one of those big red kiosks for their fresh film fix.
TV trouble
Sounds like a pretty good deal for cinemaphiles and Redbox fanatics alike. But for anyone who loves their television might want to be wary.
According to Venture Beat, it doesn't seem like TV shows will make it to Redbox Instant for a while:
"Movies are the core of the Redbox brand, and movies are underserved in this space," Strickland said, VB reported.
So anyone whose instant ques are full of old episodes of "The Office" and "Star Trek" may not want to cancel their current streaming services just yet.
We'll see how Redbox Instant will fair when it launches sometime in the next few months. But if you can't wait until then and are feeling lucky, you can try and sign up for the beta already in progress.
