Details are sketchy and hard to find, but it appears that Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) streaming service collaboration with Redbox is on target to launch before the end of the year. Called Redbox Instant by Verizon, the service is expected to be a service provider-delivered competitor to Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX).
GigaOM, which managed to tap the service's help section before it became password-protected, gathered "a number of interesting details about the service."
Among the items gleaned from that brief visit--all of which, of course, can be adjusted before a public launch--are a starting price of $6 per month for "unlimited access to the service's subscription video catalog" which, the GigaOM report said, is "expected to be much smaller than Netflix's."
Another $2 per month in a subscription fee adds four Redbox credits that can be redeemed for DVD rentals that can, in turn, be reserved from the Instant website and mobile apps. These credits must be used every month because there is no rollover. The service also offers VOD rentals and sales starting at 99 cents per download.
Service availability should be widespread, the story said, with Redbox Instant initially available on the Web, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iOS, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Xbox 360 and some Samsung TVs and Blu-ray players. Customers can register up to five devices to get the service.
"The help section also includes a hint regarding the launch date of the service: Beta testers are being told that they won't be able to access the DVDs included in their subscriptions at some kiosks until December 17," the story concluded.
Verizon and Redbox have kept a pretty tight lid on service details. A visit to the Redbox Instant by Verizon site Friday morning revealed no more details than those already released to the public that explain the service and the relationship between the two companies.
For more:
- GigaOM has this story
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