Earlier in the year, Google announced that it would be working with hardware partners to launch Street View ready cameras that anyone could buy. There were four different types of cameras mentioned: mobile, auto, VR, and workflow. Thanks to Insta360, it's now possible to get your hands on the very first Street View auto ready camera.

The hardware is certainly impressive. It's capable of 360 degree or 360 3D imaging in 8K ultra-high definition, both photo and video. This is made possible through 6 F2.4 fisheye lenses, and it also has 4 microphones. It has advanced real-time image stabilization and an optical-flow stitching algorithm, so you can capture content while moving and also live stream to a headset as you record. Cube map projection and H.265 compression keep bandwidth low for a smooth stream. The 5 FPS 8K mode is what you'll want to shoot in if you want to upload to Street View, as it's optimized for that purpose.

The Insta360 Pro is powered by a removable 5,000mAh battery that can be charged while in use, and an SD card or USB 3.0 High-Speed driver can be used for storage. It can connect to the internet directly via Wi-Fi or Ethernet cable, and also has HDMI 2.0 Type-D and USB Type-C ports. The price tag is a cool $3,499, so it's certainly not for amateurs to play around with.

https://static.insta360.com/assets/operation/0054/80524bde432cee98d7542889d5117ff4/pro_1080_2m.mp4

As the first Street View auto ready device, it will also be part of the Street View camera loan program, where 50 Insta360 Pros will be made available to borrow. You'll be able to control the camera with the Street View app, and the free Insta360 Stitcher program can be used to edit and upload content. There's also a separate USB accessory that can be used to add GPS data to images.

Source: Insta360 (1), (2)