NEW YORK—Samsung Electronics America announced U.S. pricing and availability of its new Samsung Gear 360. The new 360 will be priced at $229 (editor's note: price corrected from previous version) and will be available in-store and online at Best Buy and BestBuy.com, Amazon.com, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and U.S. Cellular, Samsung.com, and through the ShopSamsung app.

The new Gear 360 will offer video recording at up to 4K resolution, as well as 15 megapixel images. When Gear 360 is paired with a compatible smartphone, such as the Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+, users will have the opportunity to share their moments in real time at 2K resolution to social media platform,s including Facebook, YouTube and Samsung VR.

From the Gear 360 mobile app, users can control the camera remotely as well as stitch, edit and share content on the go. Whether creating a 360-degree video or photo, users can access various viewing modes and editing tools to use on their own video creations.

The new Gear 360 is compatible with Samsung devices, including the newly released Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge, Galaxy S7 active, Galaxy Note5, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy S6, and Galaxy S6 edge. It is also compatible with many third-party accessories through the universal mount at the base of the device. The new Gear 360 offers expanded compatibility with iOS devices and Windows and Mac computers.

Samsung is bundling the 360 with Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+ between May 25, 2017 and June 19, 2017, as a $49 add-on while supplies last. 

AMSTERDAM–A new achievement in the world of virtual reality production has been accomplished: Captured views from the summit of Mt. Everest. Out now is a trailer of a soon-to-be-released VR series produced by Dutch Picture Industry, a production and marketing company based in Amsterdam. The documentary simulates what it’s like to take part in an expedition to the summit of Mt. Everest by following Noel and Lynne Hanna, a veteran Mt. Everest climbing couple.

The production crew experimented with several types of VR camera setups using GoPros mounted on custom rigs. “One of the rigs we had was eight GoPros with a 3D printed rig and for a backup we used a 360 box,” said Przemek Siemion, the documentary series director, who climbed up to about 7,500 meters of Mt. Everest. For reference, the summit sits at approximately 8,848 meters.

“Then the two cameras that went to the summit were on a rig that had a custom enclosure over the GoPros where you can also attach different lenses.” The Hannas were the only two in the group to actually reach the summit. It was decided that the two man production crew should be left behind while the couple captured the money shots with one of the GoPro rigs.

GoPro cameras were chosen due to their weight, an issue Siemion says, that came about frequently throughout the hike. Other problems arose due to the nature of the expedition. “They [expedition guides] don’t care that much about your filming. We had to work around other people and we didn’t always know what was going to happen because they [expedition guides] didn’t always know themselves,” Siemion added.

Siemion says a large portion of the trip involved transporting equipment to and from camps and developing a backup plan for the cameras and batteries.

There’s no word yet on when the VR series will be formally released.