Facebook to turn panoramas into '360 Photos'

Social media giant Facebook will turn panoramas on users' phones into "360 Photos" both on News Feed and the Oculus-powered Samsung Gear VR for a better viewing experience, a media report said on Thursday.

The company also released Gear VR usage figures for the first time, announcing that Gear VR has one million monthly users who spend nearly 25 minutes per day on the device.

Facebook's "360 Photos" feature would let users upload flat panoramas taken on iPhones, Google Photo Spheres or photos from 360 cameras.

"Facebook will then morph them into 360 Photos for News Feed where users will be able to hold and drag to pan around the photos, or move their heads to look around them on the Gear VR," techcrunch.com reported.

People can click these photos with no special equipment but an iPhone running iOS 6 or later, an Android 4.2 or later or one of several 360 photo apps available for download.

Meanwhile, Facebook said that more than one million people used the Gear VR last month and developers have built more than 250 apps for it.

"Facebook is also touting new video series coming to the Gear VR, including Felix & Paul Studios' 'Nomads' series following the lives of Nomadic people from Mongolia and Kenya," the report said.

TV channel Discovery will also be releasing a new VR experience based on its hit show "Deadliest Catch" that is about fishing for Alaskan crabs in the Bering Sea.