Verizon and Redbox start testing their Netflix killer

In February, Verizon announced a partnership with DVD/Blu-Ray rental kiosk company Redbox. Their plan was to create a new streaming video service that would rival Netflix, the current king of streaming media. Now the next step in that partnership has been taken as testing of the service has begun.

According to Fast Company, Verizon and Redbox are currently testing the service internally, which is now in alpha stage, and will go into beta testing next, with an official launch later in 2012. The service's official name is Redbox Instant by Verizon. Redbox and Verizon have not yet announced any content partners or what the subscription costs will be. A teaser website has been launched, but at the moment there's just a logo and a place to type in an email address to stay informed with the latest developments.