Windows Phone 8 gets panorama app, Photosynth

Microsoft’s mobile panorama app, Photosynth, is now available for Windows Phone 8 on the Windows Phone Marketplace. The panorama app allows users to capture and share panorama shots of places, people and events. Once users have created a Photosynth, they can share it as an interactive panoramic experience on Facebook and Twitter using the free Photosynth.net service.

Additionally, you can publish your panoramas to Bing. The latest version of the app, v1.5, adds camera lens integration, which allows users to capture panorama pictures by launching the app directly from the built-in camera app lens picker. Users can also adjust lighting conditions by using new exposure and white balance options.

Photosynth app comes to Windows Phone 8

“Sometimes a single photo - even a wide-angle photo - doesn’t do a location justice. Whether it’s the view off a cliff, or inside an incredible cathedral, we’ve all been to places that cry out for a full 360 degree panorama. Photosynth is the only Windows Phone app that can stitch a full sphere. That’s 360 degrees horizontally and vertically,” a post on the Bing Blog reads.

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All you have to do is start the app, move the camera around and then view your panorama come to life. You have to move the camera in a 360-degree arc and the app will stitch up the shots once you’re done taking pictures. The app works with Windows Phone 8 and Windows Phone 7.5.

Microsoft also raised the curtains on its reimagined Envisioning Center. Microsoft says the Center is the outcome of a collaboration between its Strategic Prototyping team and Office Labs. Once in, visitors can work on the interactive desks or talk with colleagues through digital walls. They can also cook in a Kinect-enabled kitchen.

The Envisioning Center

Jonathan Cluts, Director of Microsoft’s Strategic Prototyping team, said, “We want to excite customers about the direction we’re heading in and show that we are constantly thinking about new scenarios based on trends and real work in Microsoft Research and the business groups. These scenarios are based on reality, not science fiction.”

The Redmond-based company expects to see thousands of visitors explore the Center each year. Anton Andrews, Director of Envisioning in Office Labs, said, “We don’t imagine that we’re predicting the future, but it’s case of staying on the cutting edge of the conversation, and promoting that conversation.”