Garmin has taken the wraps off its new action camera, the VIRB 360, a rugged yet high-quality cam that'll capture 360-degree video and images for reliving in VR.
As you might expect, this thing isn't skimping on the specs. The VIRB 360 can shoot 5.7K/30fps video and take 15-megapixel stills, while four built-in mics will give you the all-encompassing sound to go with your 360-degree stunt shots. It's expectedly rugged too, waterproof up to 30 feet and capable of sustaining hot temperatures.
Read this: The best 360-degree cameras
All of the stitching and spherical stabilization is automatically done in-camera, so you should get a silky smooth output when it comes to viewing your footage, while GPS and GLONASS is also, as you'd expect, built into the device. Burst shot and time lapse are also in its box of tricks, and you can livestream to Facebook and YouTube if you're paired with an iOS device.
Another neat trick is something Garmin calls '360-degree augmented reality', which basically just overlays footage with data on things like you speed, distance and GPS info. So, not really AR as we know it, but you see what Garmin's getting at.
It's great to see Garmin offering its first 360-camera, and a good one too. Just a shame about the battery, as Garmin says you should expect to get about an hour in total before needing a recharge. Wi-FI, Bluetooth and NFC (for one-tap connection with Android phones) are all included, and support for MicroSD cards up to 128GB.
The VIRB will go on sale in June costing .
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By Hugh Langley
Now at Business Insider, Hugh originally joined Wareable from TechRadar where he’d been writing news, features, reviews and just about everything else you can think of for three years.
Hugh is now a correspondent at Business Insider.
Prior to Wareable, Hugh freelanced while studying, writing about bad indie bands and slightly better movies. He found his way into tech journalism at the beginning of the wearables boom, when everyone was talking about Google Glass and the Oculus Rift was merely a Kickstarter campaign - and has been fascinated ever since.
He’s particularly interested in VR and any fitness tech that will help him (eventually) get back into shape. Hugh has also written for T3, Wired, Total Film, Little White Lies and China Daily.