360 rumors

As I said in my review of the Xiaomi Mijia MI SPHERE 360 camera , I found the Xiaomi  to have the best image quality for both photos and videos for 360 cameras that cost $350 or less.  You can now preorder the international version with English instruction manual, for shipping in July. The Xiaomi Mijia MI SPHERE is a camera that most people still don't know about, but it has been surprising new users.  Nonetheless, the Xiaomi has a number of quirks, one of which is that it feels like it wasn't intended for sale outside of China. For example, - the App Store listing previously had only a Chinese name (how would English speakers search for it?  Note: it's now in English); - the manual is entirely in Chinese. - The original app had many options that were in Chinese (but now the app is now almost fully translated). The downloading page for the Xiaomi app is still in Chinese. Now however, Xiaomi is ready to release the Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere outside of China, with a man...

Here is an update on the Garmin Virb 360's availability and a sample photo. The Garmin Virb 360 is backordered in a few places.  Here is an update on its availability: - Amazon : I ordered mine on May 24, and now I'm getting a ship date of July 7... sigh.  Amazon is usually pretty good with preorders but seems like someone dropped the ball on this one. - Preorders from Amazon UK appear to be having their orders shipped tomorrow but no one has received theirs yet. - B&H Photo : as of today, it seems they're back in stock on June 20. - Best Buy : since Amazon's late and B&H was backordered last week, I grudgingly ordered from Best Buy, supposedly for pick up on June 14.  They charged my card immediately but until now have not shown that my order is being prepared.  Yup.   Update : I just got an email saying my order's been delayed to June 19.... >:-( They did the same thing to my Oculus Touch preorder, which was also delayed.  They even had stock o...

Crowdfunded 360 camera Nico360 just posted an update.  Here are my thoughts. Back in June 2016,  Nico360 launched a crowdfunded 360 camera that offered amazing specs, including Adobe DNG raw support and 360 wireless livestreaming.  Delivery was promised October 2016.  It's now May 2017 and there is still no sign of the camera. Nico360 did post an update today , saying that they encountered overheating issues.  They said solving the overheating problems "will cost another three or four weeks."   But they did release the [final?] resolution of the camera: - photo resolution: 6912 x 3456 - video resolution: up to 3840 x 1920 @ 24fps - live streaming: up to 2560 x 1280 @ 30fps. Those are indeed juicy looking specs.  The problem is they seem too good to be true.  The photo resolution is identical to the Xiaomi Mijia Sphere 360, but the Sphere 360, backed by the financial resources of Xiaomi, has video that tops out at 3.5K, and is selling fo...

Here are among the first sample videos from the highly anticipated Kodak PIXPRO Orbit360 (aka 4KVR360)!!!   Update: new video added! The videos are by Kevin Cruz (Youtube channel here)  and he has confirmed that these videos are indeed from the Orbit360.  First, here is a tiny planet video, created with the included desktop software for the Orbit360. The colors look very rich, and the camera seems to have only minor flare artifacts in this sample.  As with previous samples, the exposure and colors between the two lenses appear very similar. Next, here is a 360 video, fast-forwarded. UPDATE : And here is a 4K 360 video posted by Kevin on YouTube (at normal speed): Once again, the colors are rich and the exposure is spot-on.  There is a little bit of flare on the rear lens but it's nothing unusual, and the same issue affects nearly all 360 cameras.  The video quality looks very impressive to me!  Let me know your thoughts in the comments! Meanwhile, Japa...

​ The Kyocera / Yashica YAC-300/360 is a hemispherical 360 action camera with what appears to be a waterproof housing.  It's in stock and available from B&H for $149.99 with free expedited shipping .  So far, there is no other information about it available.

You can now preorder the new Samsung Gear VR , for release on August 19, direct from Samsung here . Besides the slightly larger field of view, compatibility with both USB-Type C and Micro USB, and the improved controls, the new Gear VR includes a USB OTG port.  The OTG port allows the new Gear VR to receive data, not just power.  One way that the OTG port will be used is to enable viewing videos from a USB drive connected to the port.  The Samsung Internet browser will be updated to add this capability when used with the new Gear VR.

The Insta360 Nano (previewed here) , a 360-degree camera for the iPhone, appears to be selling pretty well on Amazon, even before it has become generally available (today is the first day it's shipping).  Apparently, there are only 2 left in stock! TBH, I'm not that surprised - the concept seems to work, and it has innovative features such as livestreaming.  It doesn't hurt that it's competitively priced.  Of course, I don't know yet how it performs in the real world, although the photo and video samples have been encouraging. Anyway, I'm supposed to receive my order today (not a review copy).  Will post first impressions ASAP.  If you'd like to order one, pls. consider using this link to support 360rumors at no additional cost to you! ​

​ The Samsung Gear 360 (reviewed here) is now available online in the US, directly from Samsung.  It's not yet full retail availability, but it's available to virtually anyone - no need to attend a conference .  There is a catch though :  to order the Samsung Gear 360, you need to register for the Samsung Creators Awards contest  ( details here ) and create an account with Samsung.  You will receive an email that lets you order the Gear 360 before it becomes available to the general public.  After you receive your email, you need to go to the website Gear360creator.com .   You then enter the 'unique code' that was sent to you in the email.  Mine was B6230373  - I don't know if that works only once.  Feel free to use mine if you can! The price is $349.99, with a limit of 2 per person.