Nokia's 'first product since the phone days' is a $60,000 virtual reality camera

Nokia is making a $60,000 (£40,000) camera that can be used to film virtual reality shots, The Verge reports.

The camera, named Ozo, will launch in early 2016 and features multiple cameras across its spherical design that can simultaneously record. Combined with a virtual reality headset - like Oculus Rift or Google's Cardboard - Ozo can create an immersive experience with a 360° view.

"This is the first product from Nokia Technologies since the phone days, and they just really wanted to outdo themselves," Ramzi Haidamus, president of Nokia Technologies, told The Verge.

Haidamus argued that the high-end video market - which is dominated by companies such as Phantom - is being "disrupted." When he joined Nokia, he was "tasked with coming up with a new strategy for Nokia Technologies," according to The Verge.

Nokia sees potential clients everywhere, from NASA to National Geographic to schools and universities. "We're going to make Ozo available for rent at rental houses, to make it accessible, and of course we need to start thinking about how can we make it more accessible to prosumers," said Haidamus.

Nokia, which sold its smartphone business to Microsoft in 2014, has also just completed its $16.6 billion (£10 billion) purchase of Alcatel, a fellow phone maker. Renders of the Nokia C1, a rumoured smartphone, leaked last week.