Redbox (owned by Coinstar) has been planning to expand beyond its video-rental vending machines to the online streaming of movies for quite a while. Now, that is a reality as Coinstar and Verizon have partnered to form Redbox Instant by Verizon. 

Roger Yu writes in a USA Today story that: “Redbox Instant is seeking to differentiate itself by mixing streaming with its network of 35,000 kiosks nationwide that offer newly released DVDs. But with only 4,600 streaming titles to start, its library is much smaller than more established competitors such as Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu Plus. For $8 a month, customers can stream movies without a monthly limit and receive four credits to rent DVDs at its kiosks. For $9, customers get streaming and four credits for Blu-ray rentals. Like Amazon and Apple’s iTunes, Redbox Instant also allows customers to rent or buy newly released video-on-demand titles that haven’t been made available for its library of free streaming movies. Customers will not be able to redeem their credits for online rentals and purchases.”

 Click the image to read more from Yu.

Photo by Damian Dovarganes/AP