Category: iPhone 7 Plus

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New Samsung Gear 360 Broadens Support to Include Apple Devices

Fans of South Korean technology giant Samsung have been inundated with new tech to salivate over today, with the official unveiling of the flagship Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus smartphones. Also featuring at the Unpacked event earlier was the new Gear 360 model for 2017, with a new design and improved features. One of these is support for smartphones, with Apple devices now included.

To enable more consumers to have access to the new Gear 360, Samsung has ensured that it runs on a massive range of smartphones, mostly its own, but Apple users can now join in the 360 fun.

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Samsung states on the camera’s dedicated page that: “Compatible devices include Galaxy S8, S8+ S7, S7 edge, Note5, S6 edge+, S6, S6 edge, A5/A7(2017) running Android 5.0 or later, and iPhone 7, 7+, 6S, 6S+, SE running iOS 10.0 or later.” Also noted – but not detailed – is: “There are functional limitations when using with iOS devices. Availability of features may differ depending on the mobile device, OS version, and region.”

The new camera now features a 4K resolution for shooting videos and stills are captured at 15MP. In terms of storage the device accepts up to a maximum 256 GB SD memory card with a top battery life of 130-minutes when recording at 2560×1280@30fps.

As yet no prices or release date have been confirmed but Samsung has said an April/May time frame is expected and it will be cheaper than last years model, which retailed for $350 USD/£350 GBP, reports cnet.

As further details are announced VRFocus will bring you the latest.

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What Apple Failed to Announce During its Annual Event

You can be forgiven if you thought Apple was going to unveil something, anything, to do with virtual reality (VR). The VR community was buzzing, as well as the general tech community, wondering what kind of VR accessory was going to be revealed, let alone if there was even going to be any. Alas, all we were given was a hint towards augmented reality (AR), but only in the sense that they appropriated it for the Smart Watch to be included with a companion app for Pokémon GO which actually ignored the app’s AR qualities in exchange for promoting the new tech.

After this relatively disappointing event for the VR community, you cannot help the feeling that there was an absence of what really should have been there, especially when some of the announcements would have been more than suitable to lead up to VR additions. So instead here at VRFocus we have taken it upon ourselves to list a couple of things that we should have really heard:

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3D/VR Video

Was it only us who stopped and looked around when they mentioned the two cameras on the iPhone 7 Plus? Yes, we understand that the main aim to this was to create a depth of field effect that DSLR cameras effortlessly achieve, but what if it went one step further?

The only other answer is to hope that this is actually a trial leading up to enabling some sort of 3D or even VR recording for the next installment (which, let’s be honest, is right round the corner and has already been designed).

A head-mounted display (HMD)

This was the main announcement that we were all expecting. Let’s face it – it’s what everyone (except Nintendo) is creating, so why are they not? We can already imagine it: a rose gold HMD, a massive illuminated Apple symbol, and a new take on how it is strapped to your head such as a whole helmet or even Yeezy-branded shades with integrated Beats headphones. But, there was no sign of such thing.

We get it, Apple. You want to make your camera quality better, and take away yet another common accessory feature to make you seem like you’re ahead of the game by setting your own standards. However, you are missing out on a massive market right now that is counting down the days till when you give in and accept that VR is going to diversify what you can offer.

Yes, it is sounding like we are in slight denial of what really went on yesterday, and that we are starved of some tasty announcements, but there needs to be a few explanations as to why there is such a lack of interest in VR.