After shelling out $8.5 billion for internet communications company Skype earlier this year, Microsoft has announced the acquisition of California-based video discovery technology company VideoSurf. No details surrounding the acquisition price were revealed, but according to TechCrunch Europe it’s $70 million.

Founded in 2006, VideoSurf offers a back-end computer vision technology that assists in making the discovery of video content faster, easier and more accurate. The Redmond-based software giant said that it will integrate this technology across its entertainment platform, in order to enhance the Xbox 360 ecosystem and improve search and discovery of entertainment content over the Xbox LIVE network.

“VideoSurf’s content analytics technology will enhance the search and discovery of entertainment content across our platform,” stated Alex Garden, director of Xbox LIVE for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft.

“This holiday we will launch voice search across our entertainment partners on Xbox LIVE. Over time, as we integrate VideoSurf’s technology into our system, we are excited about the potential to have content tagged in real time to increase the speed and relevance of the search results.”

According to Microsoft, this acquisition will also make it easier for its video partners to take full advantage of advanced features the likes of voice search enabled by Kinect for Xbox 360. By employing Kinect, users will be able to look for and find content across multiple entertainment providers within Xbox LIVE. They will then be able interact with this content in different ways, using voice search powered by the company’s Bing search engine, on their Xbox 360 console.

“Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Division is at the leading edge of connected entertainment,” said Lior Delgo, CEO and co-founder of VideoSurf. “We are incredibly excited to be working together on our mutual passion for creating amazing consumer experiences and reinventing how consumers search, discover and enjoy content on their televisions.”

 

In related news, Microsoft also recently surpassed the 40 000 mark in available apps within its Windows Phone Marketplace.