Photosphere images can now be embedded via the web

360-degree panoramas from supported devices can now be included on websites, thanks to new Google widget

The ability to create 'Photosphere' 360-degree panoramas is one of the coolest features of the current crop of Nexus devices (and a few others running custom software). But so far the only place to share these images has been Google+ and a handful of other Google services, including Maps.

Today that changes, with the launch of new code widgets allowing Photosphere images to be embedded in the HTML of a standard web page. The results can be seen above -- that's a shot on the Las Vegas strip during CES2013, taken on the Nexus 4.

The process isn't anywhere near as simple as a YouTube video embed. You'll need to know the exact URL of the image you want to use, as well as a bunch of other parameters calculated from metadata on Google's servers. So we're still a ways off a simple share button for Photosphere images, which is a shame.

Right it's still a very small minority of Android devices that has the ability to create these images, but regardless, this new code is an important step in opening up 'spheres to third-party sites.

More details and sample code can be found over at the source links.

Source: Google+; More: Google Developers

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