Microsoft Photosynth made a big impression when it was released four years ago. The photo-stitching software allows users to create 360-degree panoramas and “synths” by putting together many photos of a location. It turns out that Microsoft has been quietly working on the technology ever since its release, and today the company is announcing the Photosynth app for Windows Phone.
The announcement came on the Bing blog, where the Bing Team showed off the app’s features. Photosynth for Windows Phone will allow users to stitch together panoramas in the same way the iOS Photosynth app does. From the blog post:
Sometimes a single photo – even a wide angle photo – doesn’t do a place 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 panorama. Photosynth is the only mobile app that can stitch a full sphere. That’s 360 degrees horizontally and vertically.
Creating a panorama is as easy as starting up the app and slowly pointing the camera in every direction, including the floor and ceiling. The app will show which parts of the panorama still need coverage, and will automatically stitch the photos together.
After creating a panorama, users will want to share it, and the Photosynth app has no shortage of social sharing options. Users can publish panoramas on the Photosynth website or on Bing, where they can be integrated with Bing Maps. Panoramas can also be shared via Twitter and to Facebook.
Photosynth is free in the Windows Phone Marketplace and will run on any phone with Windows Phone 7.5 and above. The Photosynth App has also been available for iOS devices for some time, and can be downloaded through the Apple App Store.