A new streaming movie service is in town: Redbox. That’s right,
Coinstar, the company behind those red movie boxes in front of pharmacies everywhere, has teamed up with
Verizon to create an online movie streaming service. The new
Redbox Instant is tied to the brick and mortar (well, metal and plastic) boxes, so signing up for the service can also net you a few free DVDs from your local box each month.
Some movies are available via the new Redbox Instant subscription, but others you'll need to pick up at the ol' Redbox.
If you already use
Amazon Prime or
Netflix, you’ll find that there’s some significant overlap. Redbox Instant’s catalog of 4,600 movies is made up of Epix and Warner Bros titles, among others. Amazon and Netflix already boast many of those same movies. Like Amazon, some of the Redbox Instant movies will be available to rent or buy. Other movies are ready to stream instantly as part of the subscription plan, which is about $8 or$9.
The service has been a long time in the making, but was only announced last December. At the moment, you can get Redbox Instant by downloading an app for your Apple iOS or Google
Android device, or you can pick up a new Samsung TV. Some Samsung Blu-ray players also support it, as does the Xbox 360.
Joshua Gulick
Josh cut his teeth (and hands) on his first PC upgrade in 2000 and was instantly hooked on all things tech. He took a degree in English and tech writing with him to
Computer Power User Magazine and spent years reviewing high-end workstations and gaming systems, processors, motherboards, memory and video cards. His enthusiasm for PC hardware also made him a natural fit for covering the burgeoning modding community, and he wrote
CPU’s “Mad Reader Mod” cover stories from the series’ inception until becoming the publication editor for
Smart Computing Magazine. A few years ago, he returned to his first love, reviewing smoking-hot PCs and components, for
HotHardware. When he’s not agonizing over benchmark scores, Josh is either running (very slowly) or spending time with family.