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Microsoft buys search engine VideoSurf for Xbox Live use

Find TV and film content across multiple apps.

Robert Purchese avatar
News by Robert Purchese Associate Editor
Updated on
16 comments

Moneybags Microsoft has bought video search engine VideoSurf primarily for use with Xbox Live.

"Over time", the technology will be integrated into Xbox Live. In theory, this means you'll be able to search for video (TV, film) content across multiple Xbox Live applications - Lovefilm, Zune HD, etc.

VideoSurf has bespoke technology such as facial recognition that goes beyond the standard meta-data tags that other search engines trawl for.

It may not set Xbox Live apart today, but could become crucial as the breadth of television and film content on Xbox Live increases - BBC content is coming to the UK in "the coming months", while the US will soon get Bravo, Comcast, HBO Go, Verizon FIOS and Syfy.

The plan is to have VideoSurf beef up the Bing-powered voice search on Xbox Live that owners of Kinect can enjoy.

VideoSurf apparently cost Microsoft just under $100 million, TechCrunch reported.

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