Redbox Instant by Verizon may be ready to launch its public beta test as early as Thursday, GigaOM has learned from an industry insider. The joint-venture between Verizon and Redbox launched its private beta test in December, offering subscribers Redbox rentals as well as a Netflix-like streaming service with a focus on movies. Redbox Instant CEO Shawn Strickland told reporters at a CES event in January that the service would launch publicly before the end of the first quarter. A Redbox Instant spokesperson confirmed earlier this week that this is still the case, but didn’t provide any further details. The video service offers subscribers four DVD rentals as well as unlimited streaming of number of movies for $8 a month. The catalog is notably smaller than Netflix’s offering, but Redbox Instant hopes to make up for that by offering access to titles on DVD that aren’t available for streaming yet.
