Categories: Mobile

Anyone can add 360-degree panoramas to Google Maps with Android 4.2’s new Photo Sphere feature

One of the most exciting feature announcements to come from yesterday’s Android 4.2 launch and Google’s new suite of Nexus devices is Photo Sphere, a feature that enables anyone to capture full 360-degree panoramas intuitively, which can then to added to Google Maps.

“Inspired by Street View”, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean’s new Camera app allows users to photograph an entire scene in every direction to create a 360-degree “immersive experience”. The images, or Photo Spheres, are stored as JPEGs and all the extra information required to view them in 360-degree format is stored as XML data attached to the images themselves.

Photo Spheres can be emailed and posted on Google+, but perhaps most importantly can be added to Google Maps to help make it more comprehensive and “enable other travelers to get an accurate preview of a location before they arrive”.

Blue circle icons denote user-contributed Photo Spheres on Google Maps for desktop only.

Albizu Garcia

Albizu Garcia is the Co-Founder and CEO of Gain -- a marketing technology company that automates the social media and content publishing workflow for agencies and social media managers, their clients and anyone working in teams.

Recent Posts

When good coding principles go wrong

I have come across my share of beautifully written, over-engineered code... one moment I am…

15 hours ago

Inside the web of deception in the age of AI

This week, I’ve seen a lot of over-dramatization of very simple factual events that seem…

15 hours ago

Digital ID ‘plays a foundational role for participation in digital economies’: B20 Task Force

Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) is not an organic movement; it doesn't come from the will…

18 hours ago

Byte-sized solutions: How tech is transforming life with food allergies 

Nine-year-old Addie Lao from California lives with severe allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, sesame seeds,…

3 days ago

Credibl appoints sustainability leader Viral Thakker as Chief Business Officer to help more businesses achieve regulatory ESG compliance 

Sustainable investment in the US has faced political backlash in 2025 after the current administration's…

3 days ago

CATALYST Launches Real-Time Satellite Intelligence Service for National Defense Agencies

For many decades, satellite images have played an important role in the arena of national…

6 days ago