Mōtrr Galileo

I saw this gadget on Kickstarter in 2012. Being always fond of 360° spherical images convinced me instantly to back the development. I chose the white 30pin version at time when 30pin was the latest and greatest connector.

With the experience on Kickstarter I knew things can take longer and eventually are getting finished. The Galileo wasn’t any different. It took about 1.5 years to get completed and Apple chose to change the connector in between from 30pin to Lightning. So I kept my iPhone 4S to use it with the Galileo.

Mōtrr decided to get to the next level and avoid the connectors at all and use Bluetooth 4.0 for the future model. I totally back this decision, as it also avoid the picky apple approval process for hardware accessories. Only downside with the Bluetooth version is, that you can’t use it and load your batteries at the same time. Now I have the 30pin since about two months and I used a lot of the apps which are supporting it.

As timelapse videos are even more interesting with a moving camera view, this is the first things I did test. I used the app “Timelapse“, which has support for the Galileo built in. I used the app before already for a long time and the moving camera view is really a nice feature. The only hairy part is the entering of fractal rotation values and to figure out how you want to shoot the video.

The second app I used often is “Sphere“, which Mōtrr partnered with. Sphere builds a community for 360° photography and added capturing into the app.
And they support the Galileo. You can choose the model 30pin or Bluetooth and you can use it with a flat surface or a tripod.
The app supports all iPod 4.Gen or newer, iPhone 4 or newer. The Bluetooth model needs version 4.0.
Capturing is really really easy and your are usually done with in 5 minutes.
Uploading the image takes time and depends on your bandwidth. Additionally the image is saved in to your camera roll too.

Motrr Galileo + Sphere Surface

Motrr Galileo + Sphere Tripod

I have to thank Mōtrr for their excellent support and help. The white Galileo stopped working last week as two screws inside got loose. I emailed with their support team and they sent me a replacement with in a week. The black Galileo Bluetooth version arrived yesterday and works like a charm.
I managed to repair the white one, but the two screws keep falling off from time to time, so I’m glad I got the replacement.

I was talking about the Galileo on a German podcast “savior vivre” and you can see pictures and videos of me at www.linuxpinguin.de. My Spheres are visible on www.thesphere.com.