Samsung announces Galaxy S7 to debut on Feb. 21 alongside new Gear 360 VR camera

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in iPhone
Troubled South Korean smartphone maker Samsung will reveal the next iteration of its Galaxy smartphone lineup later this month, and will reportedly accompany the new handsets with a 360-degree virtual reality camera.


Samsung's "Project Beyond," thought to be the basis for the Gear 360. Via SamMobile


Samsung announced its "Galaxy Unpacked 2016" event on Monday with a virtual reality-focused teaser video. In addition to the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, insider blog SamMobile reports that Samsung is likely to unveil a new VR camera dubbed the "Gear 360."

The Gear 360 will use two 180-degree fisheye lenses to capture full-circle video at resolutions up to 3,840-pixels-by-1,920-pixels. It's said to pack a battery and storage onboard for standalone operation, though users should have the option to view the feed in realtime on their Samsung smartphone.



As for the new handsets, the Galaxy S7 is likely to ship with either Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 or Samsung's Exynos 8890 -- depending on the region and variant -- and 4 gigabytes of RAM. A 12-megapixel rear camera would accompany a 5-megapixel wide-angle "selfie cam," and buyers should once again have access to a MicroSD slot.

After relatively disappointing sales for the Galaxy S6, Samsung is banking on the S7 and S7 Edge to spark a turnaround in its mobile business. Last month, the company cited "a difficult business environment" when announcing a 40 percent year-over-year drop in net profit.

Samsung's "Galaxy Unpacked 2016" event will be held on Feb. 21 in Barcelona.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 27
    From "Unpacked" straight into the rubbish pile.
    cornchiplolliver
  • Reply 2 of 27
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    What do folk use 360 degree cameras for? 
  • Reply 3 of 27
    Rayz2016 said:
    What do folk use 360 degree cameras for? 
    "VR hobbyists" jumping on a bandwagon to nowhere. A completely useless fad the tech industry is caught up in right now.
    cornchip1983redgeminipa
  • Reply 4 of 27
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,251member
    Rayz2016 said:
    What do folk use 360 degree cameras for? 
    Check out a real 360-degree camera, https://www.nctechimaging.com/istar/. "iSTAR has 4 x pre-calibrated sensors delivering a 50MP full spherical accurate image with excellent high dynamic range." There are uses for this type of camera. I just don't want to buy it from Samsung because, as @SpamSandwich comments, there's would be used by a hobbyists with those funny things attached to their heads. 
  • Reply 5 of 27
    ceek74ceek74 Posts: 324member
    Maybe, just maybe if it was a 361° camera it might be something.
    nolamacguyRayz2016lolliverredgeminipa
  • Reply 6 of 27
    sflagelsflagel Posts: 805member
    Rayz2016 said:
    What do folk use 360 degree cameras for? 
    Same they use GoPro for. The combination of 360 cameras and VR glasses can be fantastic: attach a 360 camera to your helmet when skiing, watch it again on VR. Could be quite cool.
  • Reply 7 of 27
    Rayz2016 said:
    What do folk use 360 degree cameras for? 
    "VR hobbyists" jumping on a bandwagon to nowhere. A completely useless fad the tech industry is caught up in right now.
    Yep it's like the 1990s all over again. QTVR anyone? Lol
    studiomusiccornchip1983
  • Reply 8 of 27
    aderutter said:
    "VR hobbyists" jumping on a bandwagon to nowhere. A completely useless fad the tech industry is caught up in right now.
    Yep it's like the 1990s all over again. QTVR anyone? Lol
    Exactly. I'm not the only one who remembers.
    cornchip1983
  • Reply 9 of 27
    A neon blue cube in 3 dimensions. Impressive. Clearly an iPhone killer.
    cornchipredgeminipa
  • Reply 10 of 27
    Rayz2016 said:
    What do folk use 360 degree cameras for? 
    My friend it attaching one to a weather ballon soon, connected to an Oculus Rift down on earth.  Virtually entering (near) space!

    http://www.hab360.space
  • Reply 11 of 27
    aderutter said:
    Yep it's like the 1990s all over again. QTVR anyone? Lol
    Exactly. I'm not the only one who remembers.
    I little bit of close minded thinking going on here. Just becouse VR did not pan out in the '90s do not mean it will never will. Just like the Newton itmay just had been ahead of its time. I do believe VR has tons of potentials. 
    monstrosity
  • Reply 12 of 27
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    Hopefully sales will continue to fall for this scumbag company. 
    redgeminipa
  • Reply 13 of 27
    Idk, if I had a totally immersive 3D video of my mom before she died, I think I would like that very much. Don't hate the tech. Embrace the revolution!
    sflagel
  • Reply 14 of 27
    sflagelsflagel Posts: 805member
    jeremy_sd said:
    Idk, if I had a totally immersive 3D video of my mom before she died, I think I would like that very much. Don't hate the tech. Embrace the revolution!
    I feel the same. But taking your thought a step further, what if one day, with AI and better imaging technology, we could "interact" again with our moms? Talk to her and she could answer. Have dinner with them again? On the face of it, magical. But I believe it is just scary (I already stopped looking at old pictures of myself and my friends, as it makes everything look so wasted).
  • Reply 15 of 27
    rob53 said:
    Rayz2016 said:
    What do folk use 360 degree cameras for? 
    Check out a real 360-degree camera, https://www.nctechimaging.com/istar/. "iSTAR has 4 x pre-calibrated sensors delivering a 50MP full spherical accurate image with excellent high dynamic range." There are uses for this type of camera. I just don't want to buy it from Samsung because, as @SpamSandwich comments, there's would be used by a hobbyists with those funny things attached to their heads. 
    Well, that was interesting clicking that link. The nctechimgaging.com web page took over the entire comments section. Seems like a bug that should get some quick attention. (TEST: https://www.google.com)

    Edit: only if you're looking at comments at appleinsider.com. If the page is from forums.appleinsider.com then it won't have that same behavior. Something about embedding comments... I can't be the only one who's noticed this.
    edited February 2016
  • Reply 16 of 27
    I actually want an S7 (provided it has wireless charging), but the VR camera seems like a solution in search of a problem to me. What are all those 3D TVs that were hot a few years ago being used for now? I think a tool for making 3D models of real objects would be useful for 3D printing, but I doubt this camera is any good for that -- you really need to scan around an object and image it from all angles.
  • Reply 17 of 27
    peteopeteo Posts: 402member
    Rayz2016 said:
    What do folk use 360 degree cameras for? 
    "VR hobbyists" jumping on a bandwagon to nowhere. A completely useless fad the tech industry is caught up in right now.
    While 360 video's might be a fad. VR/AR is most definitely NOT a fad and is the future of computing. For an apple fanboy you would think you would listen to your leader: "Tim Cook: Virtual reality is not 'a niche' and 'has some interesting applications'
    edited February 2016
  • Reply 18 of 27
    peteo said:
    "VR hobbyists" jumping on a bandwagon to nowhere. A completely useless fad the tech industry is caught up in right now.
    While 360 video's might be a fad. VR/AR is most definitely NOT a fad and is the future of computing. For an apple fanboy you would think you would listen to your leader: "Tim Cook: Virtual reality is not 'a niche' and 'has some interesting applications'
    I disagree. VR is a niche. Even a pair of ultralight glasses using almost no battery to work would be an impediment. The issue is it is a barrier to the real world, hence "niche". As in, a small number of gamers.
  • Reply 19 of 27
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,251member
    rob53 said:
    Check out a real 360-degree camera, https://www.nctechimaging.com/istar/. "iSTAR has 4 x pre-calibrated sensors delivering a 50MP full spherical accurate image with excellent high dynamic range." There are uses for this type of camera. I just don't want to buy it from Samsung because, as @SpamSandwich comments, there's would be used by a hobbyists with those funny things attached to their heads. 
    Well, that was interesting clicking that link. The nctechimgaging.com web page took over the entire comments section. Seems like a bug that should get some quick attention. (TEST: https://www.google.com)

    Edit: only if you're looking at comments at appleinsider.com. If the page is from forums.appleinsider.com then it won't have that same behavior. Something about embedding comments... I can't be the only one who's noticed this.
    I see what you mean. When I was at the main AI page, I clicked on the link from within my initial comment and nothing seemed to happen. It wasn't until I scrolled down that the linked page took over everything. Looks like AI needs to work a little more on their new website.
  • Reply 20 of 27
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,727member
    Rayz2016 said:
    What do folk use 360 degree cameras for? 
    Taking 360° images at a guess.  ;)
    monstrosity
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