Removing Facebook from your Android spares 20% battery life (Photo : Reuters )
Social networking giant Facebook is betting big on its Oculus Rift virtual reality platform. As part of its drive to promote the platform, the Menlo Park-based company launched the very first 360-degree video advertisements.
According to Ad Week, Facebook released virtual reality ads for Samsung, AT&T, Nestle, and Mondelez, among others.
An ad for the Mondelez-owned Ritz hotel features a holiday party, in which viewers are given a 360-degree view. The AT&T ad puts viewers behind the wheel of Ban Albano, a rising race car driver.
According to Media Post, Facebook is also creating 360-video ads for Anheuser-Busch InBev's Corona and Walt Disney World. Facebook will start publishing these ads on its users' News Feed in days to come.
On top of the new advertisement format, Facebook is also launching its 360-degree videos on iOS devices and Samsung Gear devices. Previously, this kind of video format is only available on desktop computers and devices running on the Android operating system.
Many analysts said that these new ad format is part of Facebook's strategy to slowly integrate it into its user base. The company is expected to release its first virtual reality device, the VR headset, early in 2016.
There are reports claiming that Facebook is also creating a suite of tools that will allow users to easily create 360-degree videos on their own and add it into their Facebook profile. The company is believed to be working with camera manufacturers like Giroptic and Theta in creating a hub where people can learn how to create and upload 360-degree videos.
