MWC 2016 Day 1: 360-Degree Camera, VR, and More
The Mobile World Congress is already underway and has wrapped up with the first day today. The conference actually began yesterday with the Unpacked event where LG, Huawei and Samsung kicked off the show with their products. Flagship mobiles aside, the MWC attention being given to new technology as well. 360 cameras and virtual reality were big at the MWC. Here are the products that grabbed our attention the most.
Gear 360 Camera
The MWC has always been the grandest stage for Samsung as it is where the Korean giant always unveils its flagship smartphones. That being said, yesterday’s Unpacked event for Samsung seemed a lot less about its flagship S7 devices and a lot more VR-centric. Indeed, the event opened with a virtual reality presentation, having the audience wear the Gear VR headset to experience the arrival of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge with a VR presentation.
Along with the flagship devices, Samsung also unveiled the Gear 360 camera that can capture 360-degree videos that can capture and share 360-degree images and videos thanks to its double-lense spherical shape. The eyeball-shaped camera has a flat bottom that allows it to rest on any surface, a MicroSD card slot (up to 128GB) and swappable battery, hidden within.
Each of the opposing f/2.0 lenses have a 195-degree field view and the resulting 15 degrees of overlaps helps the software stitch the two images together. The camera shoots 30-megapixel spherical photos and 3840 x 1920 video that offers a great experience, especially inside the Gear VR.
LG 360 Cam
The LG 360 Cam is a low-cost, and easy way to record 360-degrees video. The camera uses two 13MP lenses on either side with a 200-degree field of view. The camera carries a 1,200mAh battery pack inside and can record up to 70 minutes on a single charge. The camera also records 2k videos.
This is one of the major modular attachments announced by LG at the launch event and the company has high hopes from the LG 360 Cam for helping increase sales for the LG G5
LG 360 VR
Apart from its revolutionary modular flagship G5 smartphone, LG also displayed its 360 VR headset that is designed to work as a standalone display, without the need to attach a smartphone like the Google Cardboard and Samsung Gear VR.
The LG 360 VR has a pixel density of 639ppi, which is pretty high. The headset connects to the G5 using a USB Type-C cable.
Nokia Ozo VR Camera
One very interesting device here is the Nokia Ozo VR camera which will in all probability be the first cinema grade virtual reality recorder. The device comes with the capability to record and store up to 45 minutes of audio and video. we checked out the results first hand and the VR quality is really high standard.
Nokia thinks the Ozo VR will be able to revolutionise the movie-making industry with this new offering, and as such will look to make a big push for the Ozo VR Camera in the coming days. How it fares in the market though only the future knows.
