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Home / News / Samsung Galaxy S4 to get “Orb” panoramic photo mode

Samsung Galaxy S4 to get “Orb” panoramic photo mode

Rumour suggests Samsung's new smartphone is getting an alternative to Google's Photo Sphere tech

The Samsung Galaxy S4 could end up with one of the finest phone cameras around, if a new rumour is to be believed.

The HTC One has cast down the photographic gauntlet with its low light-friendly “UltraPixel” camera, but Samsung is taking a different tack. It’s rumoured to offer something called Orb, which uses similar technology to the Photo Sphere feature introduced in Android 4.2 to deliver a 360-degree panorama.

As with Photo Sphere, the camera software will guide you through the process of taking the various shots necessary to “build” the panorama. But while Photo Sphere is Google’s tech and integrates into Google+, Samsung’s Orb shots will be shareable direct to Facebook. Which much more people use, of course.

Orb is reportedly still in beta, but Samsung is working hard to get it finished in time for the Galaxy S4’s on sale date (probably some time in April). If it’s not polished in time, it’ll be added as a software update.

[Android Geeks via Pocket-lint]

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Profile image of Dan Grabham Dan Grabham Editor-in-Chief

About

Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website.  Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.

Areas of expertise

Computing, mobile, audio, smart home