Stream 360-degree video from your iPhone

360-degree photography is all the rage these days, and a new third-party iPhone accessory could further add to that — by giving users the chance to easily record 360 photo and video using their trusty iPhones.

Designed to allow for live-streaming via Facebook and YouTube, the iO device takes both 4K still photos and enhanced 2K video. Check out a video demonstration below:

Sure, it’s still a slightly bulky addition to your iPhone, but it’s a lot smaller than previous 360-degree photography accessories — including Giroptic’s previous 2014 iteration of the same concept, which was ahead-of-its-time.

Part of the bulk is due to Apple’s refusal to let third party accessories leech the iPhone’s battery for power, which means that this device has to have its own battery, promising users 1.5 hours of continuous livestream recording or more than that if you’re using it intermittently.

It also looks to include a pretty polished camera app, thereby making it easy to record in glorious surrround vision with a tool that doesn’t look overly different from the stock camera app featured on iOS.

Sadly, the accessory won’t be available to ship until January 17, so it’s not going to be with you until after Christmas. However, this certainly looks a strong contender in the 360 space — and at 249 euros ($265), it’s reasonably affordable, too.

You can place your pre-order here.

Via: TechCrunch

Luke Dormehl

Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.