Windows 10 Films & TV UWP gets 360 degree support

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OK, so this is all rather niche, but noteworthy nonetheless. There was an update to Windows 10's built-in 'Films & TV' UWP application recently and I wanted to briefly show the major new feature - it's cool, though on Mobile more of a novelty. Essentially, '360°' videos can be panned around as if your phone was a viewport onto a full 3D immersive experience.

We've seen 360° video viewers before (e.g. here), but this is the first time that 360º videos have been fully viewable in the Windows 10 built-in application set:

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The new option appears on the '...' menu - you'll try it on your own standard 16:9 videos, of course, and end up with mangled and distorted results, as shown below!

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This is part of Robbie Williams! 8-)

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The best way to enjoy 360º content on Windows 10 Mobile is, of course, to use a dedicated streaming application like TubeCast Pro with its Video 360 extension and a pair of VR goggles.

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With VR goggles, 360º videos become genuinely immersive. However, back to 'Films & TV':

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I've sourced a roller coaster 360º MP4 video and added it to my Lumia 950 XL, where it appears as just another video.

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Tapping on it shows the frame-compressed view, but go for the new 'Play as 360º video' option and:

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You can now watch as you pan the phone screen around - here I've swung round on my chair to view the people 'behind me' on the roller coaster!

Pretty cool really, even though I suspect that the subset of people with Windows 10 Mobile phones and also local (as opposed to YouTube-hosted) 360º videos will be very small indeed!