Nokia is back, and it’s back in a big way. After selling its mobile business to Microsoft two years ago, the Finland-based firm reintroduced itself with great fanfare back in March with the debut of the Ozo professional VR camera. Unfortunately, the $60,000 price tag with which the camera debuted was probably a bit of a turnoff, so now, Nokia is dropping the price.
Rather than paying $60,000 for a professional VR camera, you can now pay $45,000. It’s a $15,000 price drop, but when your starting point is so high, somehow, that discount may not feel so satisfying.
Updated on 8-18-2016: Nokia drops Ozo price by $15,000
The Ozo is described as “a sleek, gray, cantaloupe-size sphere with eight lenses inside it,” which combine to record completely spherical footage. Eight microphones also record and recreate true surround sound. While Nokia has tested the Ozo’s capabilities to capture VR video of astronauts in immersion pools at NASA’s Houston base, the camera is also set to capture aerial footage when mounted to a drone.
“Ozo enables the creation of immersive virtual reality experiences that actually move us emotionally, and move us to act,” said Ramzi Haidamus, president of Nokia Technologies. “Through Ozo we can feel more present in the lives of people we’ve never met, and widen the circle of empathy in ways we could never have imagined before. Technology that moves us this deeply is technology that moves us all forward.”
Nokia has partnered with Deluxe to provide “high quality post-production services for Ozo VR content, including editorial, stitching, and color.” John Wallace, CEO of Deluxe, expressed excitement over the new partnership, noting, “Our collaboration with Ozo allows us to provide high quality post-production rendering to create the highest level of VR experiences. We are tremendously excited by the capture capabilities of the Ozo for the professional broadcast community — the first time a dedicated camera has been developed for this sector.”
The company is also now planning its expansion into China with a partnership with LeVR, the VR division of online video company LeEco. Chinese consumers will be able to order the Ozo starting in September, and expect shipments in October. “Our ultimate goal for Virtual Reality is to create tools for the world’s most brilliant, creative people,” Nokia said. And it’s all to empower these folks to “bring their VR visions to life, and to enable truly immersive, compelling VR experiences that are accessible to everyone.”
