Google puts us in a spin with 360-degree Views

Google is touting its new Views community as the latest way to add Photo Spheres to Google Maps. These 360-degree photos can be captured with Android 4.2 devices and help to give an immersive online experience of a location -- think Street View but with a personal twist.

Views gives users a new way to share their photos so they are not just left forgotten on an SD card. The site can be used to work with any panoramic shots you've taken, or you can import them from your Google+ account.

The community is a simple affair, but it's an interesting central repository for managing your Views -- it also makes it easier to browse through the panoramas that have been uploaded by other users.

Google Maps & Photo Sphere product manager Evan Rapoport waxes lyrical on the new launch in a blog post here.