The LG G5 and Samsung Galaxy S7 bring 360 cameras to phones
Tech Industry
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Googlicious.
What's up.
Brian Tong here with every thing Google that we can pack inside of a show.
Mobile world congress is here after we've been teasing you about it for the past few weeks.
And a bigilian things have been announced.
But the two stand outs for me came for LG and Samsung.
Now really the most innovation has to go to LG with the LG G5.
Sure its super sleek unibody stands out, but the G5 looks to be the first modular phone that will actually be available worldwide.
We saw everything from the LG cam plus accessory, for physical camera controls, that also adds battery juice So the Hi Fly plus, that's a banging Olsen digital to analog audio converter.
They even showed off their own LG 360 VR headset that connects to the phone, and the LG rolling bot that can be used as a toy for people and pets.
For video surveillance and can even interact with smart phone devices.
Now Samsung finally packed everything you can think of into their S7 and S7 Edge with the most refined Galaxy to date.
With a touch sensitive screen, IC68 waterproofing that protects it.
For 30 minutes under water, an even better camera with lower megapixels, but better focus and image quality, and most importantly, better battery life and the return of the micro SD card slot.
Now if you're a Galaxy fan, this is arguably The most complete phone on the market to date and if you order between February 23rd and March 18th, you'll get a free Gear VR headset as well which leads us to this.
The other trend from Mobile World Congress, virtual realty and 360 cameras.
Now, LG released one of heir own with the LG 360 cam.
And Samsung announced the Gear 360.
Each one includes two 180-degree cameras that stitch a single 360 image together with software.
Now 360 content is getting its big push right now, right alongside the push for VR, and you don't even need a VR headset to enjoy this stuff.
And really, 360 camera is pretty much my favorite thing in tech right now, and I can't wait to see it explode.
Also at MWC, ACC announcement of Vive VR systems will officially go on sale in April, but is taking pre-orders on February 29th for the price of $799.
Now the Vive will also support incoming call notifications.
And answering from Android and IOS phones.
Android phones also deserve some love in this show, and the Android based Cyanogen OS is launching a new platform they are calling MOD.
This is not to be confused with the Cyanogen MOD, but this new MOD platform Will allow deeper integration of apps and services that have otherwise been off-bounds for a while in the OS.
You'll be able to get Skype integration for calling, access to Microsoft's Cortana, or Instagram's Hyperlapse will be accessible right inside the normal camera function.
Now this new mod platform is expected to roll out with users with the Cyanogen OS 13 update that's coming next month.
And in a development that might have the biggest impact on all of our devices in the future, California-based semiconductor company Analogix Semiconductor announced their new chip that will enable 4K video at 60 frames per second output through USB-C.
And will work with any future smart phone or tablet.
Really the biggest application for this is a no brainer, virtual reality which we've already seen everyone jumping on board.
But it can also be used for big screen TV output as well.
And see, I know you just can't wait for a future that looks just like this, it looks amazing.
All right, that's gonna do it for this week.
You can email us at googlicious@cnet.com or tweet me @briantong.
Thanks for watching.
We'll catch you all next time for some more of that Googlicious.
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Googlicious.