360Panorama
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TourWrist puts a twist on the photo sphere (hands-on video)
You've heard of Instagram, right? Are you familiar with Microsoft's Photosynth and Google's Photo Sphere on Nexus phones and tablets? How about Apple's brilliant continuous-scan panorama mode on iOS devices? Well mash all this up and you get TourWrist, an app / social network for sharing photo spheres. The app started life as a social network for virtual tourism and gained one million users since launching in 2010. Here in Las Vegas, the company just launched the latest version of TourWrist with a focus on capturing photos spheres. Unlike Microsoft's and Google's approach, which stitches 360-degree images from discrete pictures, the app uses continuous-scan like Apple's panorama mode. The resulting photo spheres are truly impressive and look significantly better than the competition, especially when captured in tricky lighting conditions. All 360-degree images can be shared with other TourWrist users, Instagram-style, and with other social networks by linking to an HTML5-compatible viewer. Take a look at our gallery below and peek after the break for our hands-on video and sample photo sphere captured on site.
TUAW Best of 2011: 360 Panorama and iMovie
The votes are tallied for the best iPhone photography and video apps, and the winners have been named. 360 Panorama from Occipital pulled in over a third of the votes (36.8 percent) for take the Best iPhone Photography App award for 2011, while Apple's iMovie grabbed the title for Best iPhone Video App of 2011 with 48.4 percent of reader votes. 360 Panorama (US$0.99) uses the gyroscope in your iPhone (also works with iPad and iPod touch) to stitch together panoramas in real time. Panoramas are GPS tagged and can be tweeted, posted on Facebook, or emailed, and share online. I personally use the app when I'm on vacations so when I get home I can enjoy the immersive experience of moving my iPhone or iPad around to view a stunning panorama. It's not surprising that Apple's iMovie ($4.99) app grabbed the top spot in the video category. It is totally magical to shoot 1080p video on an iPhone and then add a theme, titles, and transitions to raw video to create a digital masterpiece. Our congratulations go out to the teams at Occipital and Apple for their stellar work on these apps, and many thanks to the TUAW readers who nominated and voted for these apps in the TUAW Best of 2011.
TUAW Best of 2011: Vote for the best iPhone photo and video apps
The nominations are in, and the poll is ready to go! The TUAW Best of 2011 awards are all about you -- the readers -- and what you think is the cream of the crop of Apple or third-party products and software. To vote, select one entry from the top nominations made by readers. We'll be announcing the winner in just a few days. Vote early and often! TUAW is asking for your votes for the best iPhone photography and video apps of 2011. The iPhone is one of the best point-and-shoot cameras possible. That's not because it has stellar lenses, great low-light capabilities, or high shutter speeds -- because it doesn't -- but because it's always with you. Developers have stepped up to the plate with some of the most innovative apps for iPhone, all in the photography and video app categories. In the photo app category, readers nominated FX Photo Studio (US$0.99), the ever-popular Camera+ (currently on sale for $0.99), social networking / camera app Instagram (free), new photo editor Snapseed ($4.99), and panorama powerhouse 360 Panorama ($0.99). For video apps, we have iVideoCamera ($0.99), Filmic Pro ($0.99), Silent Film Director ($1.99), Apple's own iMovie ($4.99), and the fun TiltShift Video ($1.99). As with the Mac video and photo apps, I've broken out the voting into two polls. Please feel free to vote for one video app and one photo app, and we'll announce the winners in a few days. And now, let the voting begin! %Poll-72151% %Poll-72157%
360 Panorama app now available for Android users, no gyroscope necessary (video)
Looking to capture panoramic photos on an Android handset? Well, you've certainly got plenty of options -- including, as of today, Occipital's 360 Panorama, which just hit the Android Market. Compatible with devices running Android 2.3 or above (with the exception of Honeycomb), the app offers much of the same functionality you'll find on the previously released iOS version. Just tap a button, pan your handset across any given area and watch your photo come to fruition before your very eyes. The tool also allows exposure to fluctuate as a user pans his or her device, thereby creating the potential for HDR panoramic shots during transitions from dark to bright areas. Interestingly enough, this version relies not upon an actual gyroscope, but a "simulated" one, created from motion-tracking algorithms (that's how it works on older 3GS handsets, as well). Users who already have a 360 Panorama account can still use it on their Android handsets, allowing them to upload and store all their photos in one place. Eventually, this storage system will allow for syncing across both iOS and Android hemispheres, though at the moment, it's a strictly web-based affair. Pan past the break for a brief demo video, or check out some sample shots in the gallery, below. %Gallery-140050%
Sony Ericsson uses six Xperia Neos to capture a 360-degree bike ride (video)
The company currently known as Sony Ericsson's marketing arm (that'd be Xperia Studio) invites artists and scientists to demonstrate the prowess of its mobile phone stable in creative ways. This time, landscape photographer Joergen Geerds was asked to compose a unique 360-degree video. Using a 3D printer, he developed a custom mount to hold six Xperia Neo phones in a ring that was welded to a mountain bike. Cyclist Mark Sevenoff rode along the Slickrock trail in the Moab Desert, Utah as the phones recorded the action. As no software existed to stitch together different video streams, Geerds had to convert every one of the several hundred thousand frames into JPEGs, merge them as stills and then reconvert the whole thing back into video. You can watch the whole interactive film at our source link, and if you're interested in learning more about how Geerds developed the project, we've got behind the scenes video and a press release after the break.
Panoramic ball camera gives a full 360-view of you nervously throwing it in the air (video)
Yes, it isn't the first ball camera we've seen, nor is it the first camera to hawk 360-degree panoramas. But, the Throwable Panoramic Ball Camera marries these two concepts together, and packs them into a sturdy-looking sphere made mostly of foam. This shields the 36 fixed-focus phone camera modules, each capable of taking two megapixel snapshots. These are then stitched together to create full panoramic works like the shot above. Somewhere within that squishy core is an accelerometer to measure the apex of its flight, and where the camera array will capture its image. The big question is, can it survive a few rounds of keepie-uppie? You can take a closer look at the ball camera's 36 x two megapixel images in the video below. Now, do you think there's any chance of getting one for the next Engadget meet-up?
360 Panorama: view augmented reality panoramas in Mobile Safari
We've talked about 360 Panorama before -- it's a cool app that lets you capture 360° panoramic photos in real time by just moving your iPhone around in a circle. The $0.99 app (available here) has been out for a while, but keeps receiving amazing updates that improve its functionality and wow factor. Now the wizards at Occipital have figured out a way for you to view those panoramas as if you're actually standing at the site where they were taken. You simply open up Mobile Safari on an iPhone 4 (or any other gyroscope-equipped iPhone running iOS 4.2), point to a URL where the photo is stored, and then move the phone around. The gyroscope is detected by the browser, and then your movements control where in the panorama you are looking. The standard reverse-pinch gesture lets you zoom into a panorama, while pinching zooms out. All using HTML 5 and thanks to a recent update in iOS. If you have an iPhone that supports iOS 4.2 and has a gyro built in, go to this site in Mobile Safari to see how the panorama viewing in Mobile Safari works. It's pretty cool!
360 Panorama brings sharing, simplicity to iPhone pano photos
We first looked at 360 Panorama back in July when it debuted against other panoramic photo apps, including Boinx's You Gotta See This and Debacle Software's Pano. On sale now for just US$0.99 (regular price $2.99), Occipital's panorama application has been updated to add what developer Jeff Powers calls "streetview sharing." This new sharing feature (a "hosted immersive viewing experience") allows you to upload your panoramas and access them from any web browser, whether that browser supports Flash or not. When viewed, you can flick and drag to see the panorama from any angle. Follow through the "read more" link to view a sample embedded panorama that I created at a local cemetery, which showcases the hosted interaction. You can easily share your panoramic creations with family, friends, colleagues and clients. All they need is a browser.
