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The Barcelo Sants Hotel has one of the geekiest/coolest aesthetics of any hotel I’ve ever seen. Definitely need to stay there on a future trek back to Barcelona. Jaime drops by to help me need out on some sci-fi gear in the lobby.
I wrote a book! If you want to take your smartphone photography and video skills up a notch, you’ll want to read my book! ‘Take Better Photos: Smartphone Photography for Noobs!’ is now available – http://amzn.to/1LZMa52
First day of actual work covering new phones at MWC 2017. Still under embargo, but maybe we can hint at what we played with today. Until then, time for a nice dinner!
I wrote a book! If you want to take your smartphone photography and video skills up a notch, you’ll want to read my book! ‘Take Better Photos: Smartphone Photography for Noobs!’ is now available – http://amzn.to/1LZMa52
Continue reading “Spain day two! MWC 2017 – 360vlog, Outside Torre Agbar at Night”
First day in Barcelona, prepping for MWC2017! Taking the insta360 camera out for a spin near some of the most expensive yachts in the world. NBD.
I wrote a book! If you want to take your smartphone photography and video skills up a notch, you’ll want to read my book! ‘Take Better Photos: Smartphone Photography for Noobs!’ is now available – http://amzn.to/1LZMa52
Continue reading “First day in Spain! MWC 2017 – 360vlog, Port of Barcelona”
First public test of the Insta360 Air, a 360 degree camera which connects to an Android phone’s USB port. I’m always paranoid about getting to the airport on time, which means I’m almost always WAY earlier than I need to be. What better way to kill some time than to ride back and forth on the moving walkways…
Kodak showed off the third generation 360 degree camera on the CES 2017 show floor! With so much support for VR, here’s one way consumers can create their own immersive content!
Youtube is detailing some new features and optimizations coming to their video streaming service, focused on improving the experience for creators. Google has been aggressively experimenting with the platform adding 360 degree video, improving comment ranking, and recently announcing a game streaming app to compete with Twitch.
Even for folks who only watch Youtube videos, detailing these changes and improvements now will give people a glimpse on how they’ll be able to keep up with their favorite producers.
Google continues to move forward with cardboard, bringing some really fun features to the low budget VR platform which uses your phone and an inexpensive cradle (often made out of cardboard) to surround you with immersive content.
The newest update to the Android Youtube app builds in native support for Google Cardboard. Now when you fire up a 360 degree video, a small cardboard icon will appear on the overlay. Tapping on that icon will split the screen automatically for stereo view through the VR headset of your choice.
Hitting the switch built into Cardboard viewers will pause the video, and moving your head along a timeline will let you fast forward or rewind the video. Very handy controls as you wont be able to touch the screen.
It’s a super fun feature to bring to the Android ecosystem, tying together the new Youtube 360 rollout and the improved developer tools for Cardboard. You can try it out with a video below, which we shot using the Kodak SP360, driving around Hollywood.
The Youtube app update should be rolling out to devices soon, or if you’re impatient you can grab it from APK Mirror and install it manually.
Kodak’s Pixpro SP360 is one of the first consumer accessible cameras to properly support Youtube’s new 360 video feature, but the way Kodak produced panoramic video didn’t work very well with how Youtube implemented the feature.
Over the weekend, the Pixpro team released BETA desktop software which provides a new Youtube Compatible format, and the results are night and day better.
Previously, you had to convert the video into a thin strip panorama for Youtube to recognize it, which would distort the vertical axis. Here’s our first 360 degree test with the SP360.
Now re-uploading the same video after rendering through the new Youtube mode!
It’s an exciting new feature, allowing people to shoot immersive and interactive content, and it’s always a good sign to see companies updating and improving their products to support new features!