360 Degree Images Without Stitching Say goodbye to Frankenpicture as you do 360-degree images with no stitching with the V.360 camera. The V.360 can let you show your full environment to people with a single image that's represented in a scrollable ring-shaped presentation in their app. You can also use the 360-degree coverage as a security camera or nanny cam that lets you divide a room or area into four quadrants, each being captured simultaneously by the same camera. http://store.vsnmobil.com/ Collaborate with Musicians Anywhere Want to collaborate with musicians all over the world? You don't have to all gather in the same garage anymore thanks to Musistic. They say this is the Google Docs of music recording, with collaborative recording on any DAW (digital audio workstation). They're also building a system that will allow you to find musicians to fill in gaps in your band, then pay them online through Musistic. Musicians Unite - Virtually! http://www.musistic.com/

Guitarists love having distinctive and unique instruments, but that kind of individuality can come with a high price. Moniker Guitars is out to change that. The company, based in Austin, Texas (where all the guitars are made) lets you choose a body type for a guitar or bass, then customize it to make it truly yours. To make buying a customized guitar easier on cash-strapped musicians, Moniker offers an interest-free payment plan option. The cost of the guitar is split into six installments, with construction beginning after the first payment is received and shipping after the second payment. No more need to save up for a lump sum payment, or worry about interest rates making your guitar much more expensive than you planned. If you're in Austin for SXSW, you can stop by the Moniker Guitars booth (#317) at the Gear Expo in the Austin Convention Center. The Gear Expo is free and open to the public. https://monikerguitars.com/ http://sxsw.com/exhibitions/music-gear-expo

You've probably heard of SXSW - we head down here almost every year to check out what's going on... so what IS going on? What's SXSW all about? SXSW (or "South By", as the regulars call it) started in the '80s as a music festival, and then it added a film component, and then an interactive festival, which is what pulls us here to Austin. At all hours of the day and night, there's something going on. SXSW is everywhere on the streets of Austin, whether it's music, parties, or just hanging out and catching up with people you haven't seen since last year. SXSW is a great place to check out new technologies you've heard of but haven't had a chance to try, like Samsung Gear VR, or stuff you didn't know existed, like Streamline Cycle which is renting out bikes during SXSW. They've got a full-service bike shop packed into an Airstream trailer to take care of all your cycling needs during South By. I'm spending a lot of time at the Bausch + Lomb ULTRA Lens Lounge, meeting lots of people, doing interviews, and sometimes we even have a special guest like longtime Geek Beat viewer digitalphil! South By is a huge event, and all the people you meet make it tons of fun! http://sxsw.com/

You ever have so much crap that you don't know where to put it all? I'm going to show you where you can stick it! I usually carry all my stuff in a backpack, but everyone around here has always been telling me about Scottevest jackets, so I finally had to try one out. This is the Fleece 7.0 and it runs $160. It's got a pocket for everything, and that means everything gets a pocket! In addition to all the pockets, it's got cable management so you can run the wires for your earbuds in a way that makes them an integrated part of your jacket - ready to do their job, but totally out of the way! I can even unzip the sleeves to make the jacket into a vest. I love this thing! As Cali can attest, they have a jacket, vest or shirt for everyone. Or, if you're like her, maybe you'll just pick up one of each! http://www.scottevest.com/v3_store/Fleece_7.shtml

Is it a good time to buy Twitter stock, the camera on the Galaxy S6, and how to become a criminal by bootlegging movies!

Apple had their watch event today, but they covered some major items beyond the watch, as well. Apple TV The big announcement on the Apple TV front was that HBO will be launching a new stand-alone streaming service called HBO Now exclusively on the Apple platform. HBO Now is a separate subscription at $14.99 a month, and does not require an existing cable or satellite subscription. There was news on the hardware as well, with the cost of the Apple TV set top box dropping $30 to $69. http://geekbeat.tv/apple-teams-up-with-hbo-for-launch-of-hbo-now/ ResearchKit ResearchKit is a developer tool aimed at enabling a new series of apps to make gathering data easier for disease researchers. Examples given were diagnostic tools for Parkinson's, and apps to gather data on asthma and breast cancer patients. The data gathering is opt-in, and Apple assures us they will not see our health data. And, in an unusual move for Apple, ResearchKit is open source. http://geekbeat.tv/apple-announces-open-source-researchkit/ New MacBook Maybe the biggest surprise of the day was the announcement of a new, ultra-thin MacBook. This computer is the thinnest and lightest Apple has ever made with a widest point of 13.1mm and a weight of 2 pounds. It has a 12-inch display with 2304x1440 resolution. It's also the first fanless Mac Apple has ever made, and features a redesigned keyboard system and touchpad, incorporating the same Force Touch technology as the Apple Watch, to discern between the two different types of tap. The biggest news is the interface design of the new MacBook. It has a single USB-C port that provides power, USB data transfer, DisplayPort, HDMI, and VGA capabilities. A multi-port adapter will be available to connect your legacy devices to the MacBook. The standard earphone jack also is also still present. The MacBook starts at $1299 with 8GB and an 256GB SSD, and will ship on April 10. http://geekbeat.tv/apple-announces-new-12-inch-macbook-with-retina-display/ Apple Watch The item everyone knew they'd be hearing about today was the Apple Watch. We got a lengthy introduction to the watch last September, so today's discussion was largely a recap of that, with important additions that were not known until now. Battery life was announced as 18 hours, though individual milages will vary. Pricing for the watch will start at $349 for the 38mm Sport version and go up past $10,000 for the high-end Apple Watch Edition. Extra bands are also available at prices ranging from $49 to $449. The watch will be available for pre-order April 10, with an available date of April 24. iOS is also getting an update to make it Watch-compatible, with version 8.2 available now. http://geekbeat.tv/apple-watch-pricing-revealed/

I HATE sorting and combining contacts! I have had a contact list with Google for years, and it is a mess, but guess what... help is on the way. Google is making changes to contacts, and I am going to give you a sneak peek. In today's How To, I am going to show you a preview of the NEW Google contacts. All I am going to say is, it's about time. https://www.google.com/contacts

PhotoSculpt is the consumer division of the company called Captured Dimensions, which we told you a bit about in an earlier show. They've opened a location in Frisco, Texas, not far from the Geek House, and we decided to pay them a visit to see what it's all about. http://photosculpt.com/ http://captureddimensions.com/ Most people have been to a photo studio. A camera, maybe two, gets pointed at you, with the goal of getting a great image of you to freeze that moment in time. At PhotoSculpt, they're cranking that up a few notches with 80 cameras that will fire all at once, to capture a full three-dimensional image of you. Once they have that capture, there's a couple of things you can do with it. For one, you can become the starring image in an augmented reality greeting card. Your recipient just aims their phone at the card, and there you are on the screen, hovering over the card in glorious 3D! Another option is to a have a cool little statue of yourself printed. They use a bunch of proprietary software and a process called photogrametry to create an awesome figure with amazingly accurate coloring. It makes a great gift or keepsake. A 1/12th size figure starts at $199, and a 1/18th figure starts at $80 per person. Prices can vary, but these are surprisingly affordable for what you're getting!

Graphene Advancements Bringing Cooler Tech Closer One of the more intriguing breakthroughs I've been keeping an eye on is Graphene. Graphene has in fact been known for awhile and around in various forms but recent advancements are bringing us significantly closer to using it in everyday applications. Graphene is a honeycomb-shaped layer of carbon atoms but only one atom thick. It's 200x stronger than steel, incredibly flexible, and carries an electric charge. In fact it's one of the most conductive materials ever created. Because a layer of graphene is so thin, it has to be layered on top of another material like cellophane but imagine the possibilities of truly bendable, transparent, dirt-cheap screens. That means super cool new gadgets aren't far away! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphene Booking Travel with Google Flights Speaking of far away, sometimes it's nice to get away and Google Flights has just made that a little easier. My family has a home in Northern Michigan where I spent much of the summer as a kid and still visit a couple of times a year. But getting from Dallas to Northern Michigan by car takes too long so flying is the only option. Unfortunately, there are no major airports up there, just small regional runways, and they're often expensive to fly into so we have to look at multiple options. That means every trip I have to compare flying out of DFW or Love Field in Dallas and into one of 12... you heard me right, TWELVE possible airports. Some closer than others, some cheaper than others. That means that instead of just price comparing airlines from point A to point B, I have 24 possible flight combinations across multiple airlines. It's so frustrating and time consuming that driving is starting to look like a good idea again. But now, with Google Flights, I can choose dates, origin, and destination, and Google Flights will show me the surrounding airports and associated cheapest price. If I want to explore deeper I can just click on the various airports and see what the best options are. It's saving me tons of time and hair loss when figuring out which flight fits my travel plans best. If you're making travel plans, I'd recommend adding Google Flights to your tool box. Just go to http://google.com/flights and check it out. NASA Spacecraft Photographs Strange Lights on Dwarf Planet Ceres Speaking of looking at things far away, NASA recently spotted some strange lights on the dwarf planet Ceres in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The lights at this time are of unknown origin but are incredibly bright against the dark background leading to all kinds of hypothesis on what they may be. As the Dawn spacecraft get's closer we'll get a better look but there could be a VERY interesting discovery just around the corner. Dawn is less than 30,000 miles from Ceres now so hopefully we'll know more soon. Of course it could just be some hillbilly with a mirror having fun at our expense... but let's hope not. http://mashable.com/2015/02/25/strange-lights-dwarf-planet-ceres/ Remembering Leonard Nimoy Late last week we heard the sad news that Lenoard Nimoy had passed at age 83. It goes without saying that we don't do 'celebrity' news here at Geek Beat but Mr. Nimoy was an iconic part of geek culture. His portrayal of the dispassionate Mr. Spock on the Star Trek series helped many to be unashamed of our geeky passion for science and sci-fi. As you saw in today's opening, Leonard Nimoy did so much more than just play Mr Spock. He's credited in over 130 movies and TV shows, he was an art collector, author and accomplished photographer, but Spock may be his largest legacy. Nimoy became known for his willingness to indulge fans, show up at conventions, and show the kind of warmth that Mr. Spock would not have. Of course there are those that don't fully understand how much geek culture will mourn Mr. Nimoy's passing. But I think John Scalzi summed it up best on Twitter: "If you're having trouble understanding the grief over [Leonard Nimoy's] passing, here it is: Every geek just lost their favorite grandparent." Leonard Nimoy left us with many great memories and quotes and we thank him for portraying Mr. Spock as beautifully as he did and as only he could. There is a lot we can say but dragging this out for the sake of it would be... well... illogical. So I'll leave you with this: Leonard Nimoy, you are, and always shall be, our friend.