Ricoh's new cam is small enough to fit in a pocket, or you can carry it in the bundled pouch that includes a belt loop, should you need to fill the void left by your pre-BB10 BlackBerry holster's retirement. Theta includes two opposed hemispherical lenses, letting you capture a full 360-degree image in a single frame. The camera itself excludes a display or any manual settings at all, but given the super-wide angle you're shooting at here, there's not much framing to be done. You can either capture images to the internal memory or to an iOS device connected via the ad-hoc WiFi network (Android support is coming later this year). If you're linked to a smartphone or tablet, you can use the device as a remote shutter release, which we'd definitely recommend -- with a lens on both sides, there's no way to hold the camera without several appendages ending up in each shot.

Our sample images were all captured with a fixed aperture of f/2.1, shutter speeds ranging from 1/20 to 1/125 of a second and a sensitivity that jumped between ISO 100 and 800, depending on shooting conditions. Images shot at ISO 800 are incredibly noisy, so Theta is clearly best suited for use outdoors or in a bright room. The photos we captured were each a hair over 6.4 megapixels, but as you'll likely be reviewing shots on a phone or tablet, you'll be looking at a scaled-down version, though you can pinch or double-tap to zoom in.

We tested the device with an iPod touch that came pre-installed with the Theta app. The process of pairing the camera and iPod each time takes several seconds to complete, so you'll want to leave both gadgets powered on whenever possible to avoid delays. Controls are also quite limited, so you won't be adjusting the ISO or shutter speed manually to achieve a certain effect. Really all you can do here is capture an image remotely and transfer it to the device for storage or sharing. That simplicity does help minimize impacting the battery, though, and we had no problem getting through a full day on a single charge.

Considering that you'll likely struggle to identify even a dozen moments that call for a 360-degree photo each day, you should be in very good shape power-wise. Once you're done, plug Theta into your computer using the bundled micro-USB cable to charge it up as you download shots -- each image will appear just like those above and below. What you do from there is up to you, but if you're like us, you might consider boxing this thing back up and shipping it off in exchange for a refund. Those 400 bucks could be put to better use.