Google’s Chromecast has secured yet another app for its flourishing catalog of supported extensions and services – the Redbox Instant app for Android gained support this week, enabling Google’s army of Chromecasters to beam movies from an Android phone or tablet onto the big screen. The app also received some bug fixes in the process and should run more smoothly as a result.
An $8 monthly subscription to Redbox Instant – which opened to the public in March 2013 – will net you 4 free DVD rentals per month from the traditional Redbox kiosks, in addition to Netflix-style instant streaming online. Users who opt out of paying the monthly fees can still sign up for a simple Redbox Instant account, which will allow them to rent or buy On-Demand movies – $3 gets you unlimited views over a 48-hour period, while $9 lets you buy the movie to watch whenever.
Redbox, along the same vein as Netflix, is currently offering a free-trial subscription for the first month.
Seemingly everyone is trying to get in on the Chromecast bandwagon. This week alone (in addition to Redbox Instant), Google tied Casting functionality into its own Drive presentations, the Android Music app SoundTracker integrated Chromecast support, and the indie movie-streaming service Fandor did the same for its iOS, Android, and web apps. And as for services that are currently developing Chromecast support, Beats Music and Rdio have both indicated that they are working on bundling the capability into their services, while Spotify has said “not right now” to the idea – for the time being, at least.
