Microsoft Acquires California Company

Microsoft Corp. said Tuesday it has bought VXtreme Inc., and released its NetShow 2.0 software as part of a series of moves to help bring audio and video programming to home computers.

VXtreme of Sunnyvale, Calif., has developed software that compresses audio and video for faster transmission over the Internet. Customers include CNN Interactive, The Financial Network and General Electric Co. Terms of the purchase were not immediately disclosed.

Microsoft NetShow is a “streaming” media server that allows corporations and broadcasters to transmit over the Internet and internal computer networks known as intranets.

Streaming, the continuous distribution of video and audio, is less expensive than satellite television transmission but the quality is also lower. Movements appear jerky and sound is less true to the original.