Samsung Gear 360 VR Camera Tipped to Launch Alongside Galaxy S7 at MWC

Samsung recently confirmed its "Galaxy Unpacked 2016" event for February 21 in Barcelona where the company is widely expected to unveil the next Galaxy flagship smartphone with a curved display variant, the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. Now, a new report claims that Samsung may also reveal its yet-unannounced Gear 360 virtual reality (VR) camera at the same event.

Sammobile reports that the South Korean company's Gear 360 VR camera is likely a part of the Project Beyond. The device is said to be a spherical camera which can capture 360-degree imagery using two 180-degree 'fisheye' lenses. The Gear 360 camera will reportedly also pair with smartphones via Bluetooth and the company will also have a dedicated Gear 360 Connect app. The report speculates that the Gear 360 VR camera may work with recent high-end Galaxy devices, apart from the Samsung Galaxy S7.

The 360-degree VR camera is said to come with its own battery and also include built-in storage. It is likely to include the Gear 360 Gallery, and a separate remote viewfinder app. Some of camera features tipped in the Gear 360 include HDR, exposure control, white balance and ISO settings, and a Liveview option. The device is rumoured to offer a setting to switch between recording with a 360 (dual lens) or 180 degree (single lens) front or rear view camera. Some of the modes tipped include VR view, dual view, panoramic view, time lapse, and looping video. The device will be capable of recording at a maximum resolution of 3840x1920 pixels when shooting in dual lens mode as well as 1920x1920 pixels in single lens mode. The company was last month reported to have the Gear 360 name trademarked.

The report says that the Samsung Gear 360's video could be streamed live on a connected device; though there is no confirmation on the feature. The camera could also help users easily create 360-degree content for Gear VR headset. The Gear 360 is said to be Samsung's attempt to take the VR experience to the masses.

To recall, Nokia last year launched its first commercially available virtual reality (VR) camera, the Ozo, which was designed and built for professional content creators.