Samsung upgrades Gear 360 camera with 4K video and iPhone support

[kristine]

The new Gear 360 updates the external design of the original with a smaller and lighter body, but still follows the same concept of using two CMOS 8.4-megapixel fish-eye cameras positioned back-to-back to record a 360-degree video.

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The previous generation's sub-4K resolution of 3840x1920 has increased in the new model, which can record video at up to 4096x2048 at 24 frames per second, and take 15-megapixel still images. Last year's release was able to produce 30-megapixel images, due to its use of two 15-megapixel sensors.

While last year's model only worked with a small number of Samsung's mobile devices, the South Korean electronics producer has made the decision to expand its compatibility, allowing it to work with the iPhone 6S and later iPhones running iOS 10.0 or later. The decision to support smartphones produced by its main competition is probably a move to increase the potential audience for the imaging device, instead of limiting its use to only flagship Samsung devices, like the Galaxy S8, which could help increase the camera's sales.

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In an attempt to help prevent users from using all their smartphone storage for the high-resolution video, the camera has space to install a microSD card of up to 256GB in capacity. The battery has been downgraded from 1,350mAh in the original to 1,160mAh, but Samsung claims it will last for up to 130 minutes of recording at 2560x1280.