Redbox is giving streaming another shot

After unceremoniously putting the old kibosh on it Instant service back in 2014, your friendly neighborhood DVD dispenser Redbox is ramping up to give streaming another go. The movie distributor, whose vending machines have become a supermarket mainstay across the US, is taking another shot at Netflix with a small beta roll out for “a small subset of [its] customers”

From the sound of things, this is all still very early stages. No definite pricing or timing, but the Redbox Digital app has been published in the App Store, and screen shots reveal a UI pretty on-par with what’s offered up by Netflix and its ilk, albeit with a download option entered into the mix, along with a cast button to stream it to compatible devices.

At present, the app can only be accessed by members who have been given the proper Redbox thumbs up – a fact that has contributed to the app’s current one-star iTunes rating. The company doesn’t sound too confident about if or when it plans to pull the trigger on a wide release. “As we test and learn from our customers,” a spokesperson for the company told Variety, “we will make evaluations that determine any future course of action.”

Presumably the 50 or so ratings that put the app at one star won’t tip the scales too much in either direction.

Sources: TechCrunch