360 rumors

Allie is giving an Allie Home 360 camera with 4k livestreaming (worth $500) to one lucky winner.  To join, you just have to follow Allie's social media accounts.  The more accounts you like and share, the more points you'll get.  Here are the details .  The winner will be announced August 19. Allie says, "all participants will receive rewards."

Vuze Camera, the first fully spherical 3D 360-degree camera for consumers , is giving away one Vuze VR kit, which includes a camera, specially designed tripod/handle, headset, and video editing software. To be entered into the contest, you just have to register for an account on their website. Details of the contest: https://www.facebook.com/vuze.camera/posts/1639613826352681:0

​ The Samsung Gear 360 (reviewed here) is now available online in the US, directly from Samsung.  It's not yet full retail availability, but it's available to virtually anyone - no need to attend a conference .  There is a catch though :  to order the Samsung Gear 360, you need to register for the Samsung Creators Awards contest  ( details here ) and create an account with Samsung.  You will receive an email that lets you order the Gear 360 before it becomes available to the general public.  After you receive your email, you need to go to the website Gear360creator.com .   You then enter the 'unique code' that was sent to you in the email.  Mine was B6230373  - I don't know if that works only once.  Feel free to use mine if you can! The price is $349.99, with a limit of 2 per person.

​ Just a friendly reminder: the 2016 Epson International Pano Awards deadline is coming up!  "Early-bird entries close in three days at midnight on July 10th, 2016 (UTC -11) Late entries will be accepted until July 24th - multiple entry discounts will be unavailable during this time" The Pano Awards began in 2009 and recognizes the best of panoramic photography, (including a VR/360 category since 2011).  The prize pool is worth over $60,000, including $25,000 in cash . Last year's contest had 4,345 entries from 60 countries.  Below is last year's Major Open Award Winner by Max Rive of Netherlands: ​ Here are the top 20 entries for the VR/360 category for 2015. Notably, the rules are more respectful of photographers' copyright than other competitions.   While other contests give the organizers as many rights as an owner to control a submitted image, including selling and sublicensing the image, the Pano Awards rules state that their license is for " marketi...