Here's their message:

We express a sincere gratitude for your patronage to LG 360 CAM Manager Service. Due to changes in our operation policies, LG 360 CAM Manager Service via mobile applications will be terminated as of June 20, 2020.

Well, that's a load of bollocks, isn't it! Here's how you can continue using the camera on modern versions of Android - and connect to it on Linux.

Get The App

LG have removed it from Google Play. They could have left it there, but they didn't. But the Internet never forgets. So you can download the final version from APK Pure.

Copy the APK to your phone and install it. You can read the instructions to see how the app works.

If you're lucky, everything will just work. If not, read on…

Reset the camera

Charge the camera via USB-C. Turn it on by holding the power button for 4 seconds. After all the lights have stopped flashing, simultaneously hold down power and shutter for about 12 seconds. You'll get an assortment of flashy lights and sounds. This is the camera resetting. You may need to turn it off and on again.

Go into the app, and search for your device. Click on the device it finds.

Now, go to your phone's WiFi settings. You should see a new network called something like LGR105_123456.OSC. Connect to it.

The password will be 00123456 - so 00 plus the last 6 numbers of the Access Point name. Secure!

You can now go back to the app and use it as per normal.

Root it!

Oh yes 😁 using LGLAF you can force the camera into ADB debugging mode. You will also need to install PyUSB.

As per these instructions:

1. Turn off camera by holding the power button until it beeps forlornly. Keep holding it down until the double LEDs on the side stop flashing.
2. Plug a USB cable into a computer, but do not connect the camera
3. Press and hold the shutter button while plugging the USB-C into the camera
4. Keep holding the shutter button down until led turns blue
5. In a terminal, type python lglaf.py --cr
6. Type setprop persist.sys.usb.config mtp,adb
7. Type exit and unplug camera
8. Hold power button down until the blue LED goes off
9. Hold power button to turn on the camera
10. Plug camera back into USB-C
11. On computer, type adb devices and you should see the camera

Now, using something like scrcpy you can connect to the camera and use it just like an Android phone!

It acts just like a normal Android device - you have access to all the settings, developer mode, etc.

HTTP Requests

Once you've got access to the camera, you can turn on its WiFi and connect to your home network. As per these helpful instructions you can then use the built in OCS API.

For example, sending a HTTP GET to http://192.168.123.456:6624/osc/info will get you back:

{
  "manufacturer": "LGE",
  "model": "LG-R105",
  "serialNumber": "123456",
  "firmwareVersion": "R10510l",
  "supportUrl": "developer.lge.com/friends",
  "endpoints": {
    "httpPort": 6624,
    "httpUpdatesPort": 6624
  },
  "gps": false,
  "gyro": true,
  "uptime": 18,
  "api": [
    "/osc/checkForUpdates",
    "/osc/commands/execute",
    "/osc/commands/status",
    "/osc/info",
    "/osc/state"
  ],
  "apiLevel": [
    1,
    2
  ]
}

To take a photo, run: curl -X POST http://192.168.123.456:6624/osc/commands/execute -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{"name": "camera.takePicture"}' that will save it on the camera's SD card.

To get a photo from the camera, run: curl -X POST http://192.168.123.456:6624/osc/commands/execute -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{"name": "camera.getLivePreview"}' --output test.jpg

I haven't figured out 360 streaming (if it is even possible) but you can get a preview of one of the cameras:

To start a session, run: curl -X POST http://192.168.123.456:6624/osc/commands/execute -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{"name": "camera.startSession"}' To start a stream, run: curl -X POST http://192.168.123.456:6624/osc/commands/execute -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{"name": "camera._startPreview", "parameters": {"sessionId": "123"}}'

You will get back:

{
  "results": {
    "_previewUri": "udp://:1234"
  },
  "name": "camera._startPreview",
  "state": "done"
}

Run VLC and open the network stream udp://:1234 and you'll get a low-resolution preview of what the camera is seeing.

You can see more commands on the Open Spherical Camera API page.

Full list of commands

By decompiling the APK, I was able to extract these available commands. Anything which starts with _ is a manufacturer specific command, so won't work on other OSC cameras.

• camera._getRecordingStatus
• camera._getThumbnail
• camera._getVideo
• camera._listAll
• camera._liveSnapshot
• camera._manualMetaData
• camera._pauseRecording
• camera._resumeRecording
• camera._startPreview
• camera._startStillPreview
• camera._stopPreview
• camera._stopStillPreview
• camera._updateTimer
• camera.closeSession
• camera.delete
• camera.getFile
• camera.getImage
• camera.getMetadata
• camera.getOptions
• camera.listFiles
• camera.setOptions
• camera.startCapture
• camera.startSession
• camera.stopCapture
• camera.takePicture
• camera.updateSession

Enjoy!

YouTube hosts 360 videos. Here's one of mine, wandering through the Houses of Parliament. You can drag the video to see all around.

If you let YouTube-DL download the "best" version, you'll end up with a video which looks like this:

Each lens' view has been horizontally stretched, and then stitched into an over/under view. This is in Google's Equi-angular Cubemap format. Grim!

There are two options available to you to get the equirectangular version needed to playback easily on Linux

Easy Way

Running youtube-dl -F https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=... will show you all the formats available.

136          mp4        1280x720   720s 2325k , avc1.4d401f, 30fps, video only, 24.94MiB
248          webm       1920x960   1080s 2375k , vp9, 30fps, video only, 25.53MiB
137          mp4        1920x960   1080s 4127k , avc1.640028, 30fps, video only, 41.92MiB
18           mp4        640x360    360s  705k , avc1.42001E, 30fps, mp4a.40.2@ 96k (44100Hz), 7.63MiB
22           mp4        1280x720   720s 2514k , avc1.64001F, 30fps, mp4a.40.2@192k (44100Hz) (best)

I found that -f 22 worked. And there's a way to test that!

If you run ffmpeg -hide_banner -i filename.mp4 then you should see this in the metadata:

Side data:
   stereo3d: 2D
   spherical: equirectangular (0.000000/0.000000/0.000000) 

That's the magic which tells a video player that this is a spherical / 360 video.

If you play back the video in, say, the default Linux video player, it will look like this:

It's a weird view out of both lenses simultaneously. Yeuch!

But if you play it using VLC version 3 or above, you'll be able to drag the video around.

There is a downside. This only gets the 720p version. If we want the full resolution version, we need a bit more trickery.

Hard Way

There's a bug in YouTube which means YouTube-DL sometimes gets served up slightly weird formats. The fix is to pass a blank user agent:

youtube-dl --user-agent "" ...

Now, when you download the video, you'll get the full resolution copy in equirectangular format. HORRAY! But without the correct metadata. BOO!

This is because ffmpeg strips out Side data. *sigh*

So, run this:

youtube-dl --user-agent "" -k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...

That tells YouTube-DL to keep the original video and audio separate. They need to be merged with the standard compliance mode to unofficial .

ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -i audio.m4a -c:v copy -strict unofficial spherical.mp4

Phew! Easy when you know how, eh?

People want to take a photo like this:

But it often ends up coming out like this:

That's not intended to be snarky. Most of us don't have the time, skill, or equipment to take stunning photographs. But that's OK! The best photographs of mere objects have already been taken. The photo that no-one else has ever taken is of you standing there!

That's what I love about selfies! A photo of a monument is just that. It shows you were there, once, kinda. But a selfie proves that you were there! I think there's something delightful about saying "This is me! Here I am!"

So, here are a couple of 360 selfies from our recent trips. They're not the greatest photos in the world - they're not static shots of a thing - but they are of us and the memories we made.

Rome

Hong Kong

Australia

Tech Specs

Before we dive in to the photos and videos, let's see how they compare on raw numbers.

Photo

By default photos are 3040*1520 and taken in spherical format. The average photo size is about 1.5MB. They look like this: (click for full-size)

There's very little metadata included, aside from a mysterious comment.

There's an option in the app to export the photo in equirectangular format.

The exported version looks like this:

As you can see, the stitching isn't perfect, but that's sadly common on all cameras like this. Filesize is about 2.1MB.

Here's the same photo taken by the LG 360. It's 5660*2830 and 4.5MB.

Comparison

The PowerAdd has lower resolution, that's obvious. But when viewed on a phone screen, it doesn't make much difference. Stitching needs improving, but it isn't noticeably worse than the LG.

The app is annoying to use - more on that in a bit - you have to download the side-by-side file into the app, then find the photo in your gallery, then share it, which then converts it to an equirectangular photosphere. A little cumbersome.

Video

Video quality is adequate. As you can see here, it is a bit blurry and suffers under low light.

Sound is stereo. The LG has full 5.1 and spatial audio - which is more suitable for use on VR. But the PowerAdd captures voices perfectly well.

Just like the photos, the raw video is side-by-side. Filesize is about 1MB per minute when copied directly from the SD card. You can use the app to trim the video and export to to 360 format. Once stitched together by the software, the filesize doubles to about 2MB per minute.

Interestingly, the LG will only record for a maximum of 20 minutes, the PowerAdd will go for 80 minutes at a time.

Physical Size

The PowerAdd is significantly bigger and heavier. That doesn't bother me. If anything, it feels sturdier in the hand than the lightweight LG. The PowerAdd's can only take 128GB cards - but that's tempered by the fact that larger cards are rare and exorbitantly expensive.

The bigger battery is a real boost - although it is hard to measure it in the real world.

The LG comes with a plastic protective cover for the lenses - you get nothing with the PowerAdd. Worth investing in a soft or hard case to protect its eyes.

Connectivity

Both cameras have their ports at the bottom.

The LG has a stupid flap protecting the ports which means you can't charge it and have it connected with a tripod. The PowerAdd uses the older micro-USB connector, that is a shame. I'd have hoped in 2017 that all new electronics would use USB-C.

The PowerAdd will let you transfer files by USB. You can also take the SD card out and transfer them directly. No different to the LG in that respect.

The PowerAdd, like the LG, uses WiFi to connect to the app and transfer files. The speed on both is about the same in terms of raw throughput - but the PowerAdd's files are much smaller, so they transfer quicker.

Lights, Camera, Action!

The PowerAdd is festooned with blue LEDs. They are bright and dotted around the body.

This one lets you know that the power is on:

These let you know that the WiFi is on, and whether the unit is in photo of video mode:

The lights are a bit bright, but they're more noticeable than the LG's which hide them on the side.

One annoying thing is the buzzer on the PowerAdd. It is only capable of beeping. It's a piercing, shrieking, loud and unpleasant sound. It goes off when the unit is switch on, when the WiFi is turned on, when a photo is taken. It's just grim. There's no option in the app to turn it off.

Buttons

You get power, wifi, camera/video toggle, and a shutter thumb button.

I'd have preferred them to be physical switches rather than buttons. You have to hold them down for a little while to get the functionality to change.

The shutter button is curious. After pressing it there is a short delay, and then the wretched beeper lets you know that a photo has been captured.

The App

I found the LG's app to be confusing and unreliable. The PowerAdd's app is also disappointing. For some reason it starts upside down! There are also a few error messages which remain untranslated from Chinese. As with the LG, you have to manually connect to the camera's WiFi, only then can you use the app.

The basic interface is fine. You see what the camera sees, tap the screen to take a photo or fiddle with the settings.

For basic configuration, the app is adequate. You can adjust all sorts of settings.

You have to download the photos, then convert them to equirectangular format, then upload or share them. A little cumbersome.

A few other oddities. There's no ability to stream directly to YouTube or Facebook. It seems that the timezone is set to China time - there's no way to edit that. GPS isn't included in the unit - so you don't get geotagged photos.

OEM

The app does give us some clues as to the origin of the camera. I think it is made by URBETTER a Chinese OEM. Which, with a bit of sleuthing, takes us to a product called Halwel IDV720.

According to that, the image sensor is the OV4689 - they should be capable of recording video at 2688x1520 up to 120fps. I wonder if it is intentionally slowed due to the 550MHz processor, and the need to instantly write to an SD card?

The stitching software used to create the equirectangular image is provided by "MiTong Technology".

It should be possible to use the apps designed for other IDV720 cameras - but they all get terrible reviews.

USB

The app will allow you to switch from WiFi to USB connectivity. So, theoretically, you should be able to plug this into a regular PC and stream video and audio directly.

A quick lsusb gives us 18d1:0003 Google Inc. that's rather cheeky! It's masquerading as a basic Android device. It shows up as a simple SD card reader, so you can pull files from the DCIM folder.

I couldn't work out how to stream video from it though.

Firmware

Grrrr! This is very disappointing. The latest firmware can be downloaded over http, with no security, from a computer in Shenzen, running Windows 7 Ultimate Edition Service Pack 1!

The firmware is unencrypted and a quick binwalk shows that it is running Linux! Hurrah. But PowerAdd really need to secure their software update process and comply with the GPL.

There's no changelog included, so there's no way of knowing what the software has fixed.

Conclusion

Once again we see technology fall rapidly in price as Chinese OEMs race to replicate premium hardware.

For ninety-quid, this is a perfectly decent 360 camera. The resolution is lower than the competitors, but it makes up for it with a longer battery life.

The software is disappointing. It just about does the basics - simple configuration and photo management - but it lacks the finesse of the LG app. The constant beeping from the PowerAdd is also annoying.

Buy the PowerAdd 360 from Amazon UK for £89.99.

112 is the European wide emergency services number. Wherever you are in the EU, dialling 112 will get you through to the local emergency services. In fact, most GSM networks outside of the EU will also route your call correctly.

This is an important day. Dialling 112 could save your life. Sadly, the UK isn't doing anything to promote it.

So, what better way to celebrate than by designing a JIL widget to allow you to quickly dial 112 in an emergency? (That's a rhetorical question...)

JIL Widget

I've written before about the JIL SDK and my professional involvement with it.

The JIL SDK allows us access to the telephony subsystem.  This allows us to directly place a call - usually via the native dialer application.  It's a very simple call, all you do is pass it a string.  It will take 0-9+#*.  So, you can use it to call USSD commands.  Annoyingly, you can't get information back from the commands - a problem also present in Android.

So, the code is simply

<script type="text/javascript">
    Widget.Telephony.initiateVoiceCall("112");
</script>

That's it.

Logo

The EU has a logo that they want people to use for 112 promotion.

Their licensing terms are very enlightened (for a government organisation)

Any organisation, institution, company or individual willing to inform citizens of the European emergency number can use the materials informing about the 112 and general logo of the 112 which are available on our website. Regardless of the size or the branch of economic/social/cultural activity, all the entities concerned with safety and emergency issues are welcomed to use these materials and ideas for their campaigns.

Download

Download and install the widget.

On the Vodafone H1, you may need to dial *#35767# to remove the H1’s security check.

If you’re interest in developing for this platform, there’s a €1,000,000 bounty up for grabs.  There’s also a Dev Camp at Mobile World Congress this year.

I work for Vodafone – this is my personal blog, I don’t to speak for them.  All opinions, claims and mistakes are my own.

I've tested this to work on the Vodafone 360 H1 - but it should work with any JIL handset.

Because it isn't certified, you may need to dial *#35767# to remove the H1's security check.

The code is very simple.  The JIL SDK allows you to call specific phone application - in this case, all I've done is invoked the browser.

<body>
   <script type="text/javascript">
      Widget.openURL("http://m.dabr.co.uk/");
   </script>
   <div>
      Launching Dabr!
   </div>
</body>

One thing to note, if you're deploying the widgets from your website, ensure you have set the MIME type to "application/widget" - as per the W3C standards - otherwise many devices won't recognise it as a valid widget.

If you're interest in developing for this platform, there's a €1,000,000 bounty up for grabs.  There's also a Dev Camp at Mobile World Congress this year.

I work for Vodafone - this is my personal blog, I don't to speak for them.  All opinions, claims and mistakes are my own.