SXSW Interactive: Top tech trends for 2015

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An exhibitor demonstrates a panoramic, wearable camera at a booth at the 2015 SXSW Music, Film + Interactive Festival.

As a plane with a Grumpy Cat flag flew overhead, courtesy of Friskies, the Technorati flooded into panel discussions and happy hour spots at the annual tech festival South by Southwest in Austin, Texas.

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Top tech influencers pondered immortality and mind cloning. FireChat, an app that lets smartphone users connect via mobile chat even without a cellular connection, was another hot topic. Here's a look at the most notable trending topics at the tech jamboree so far...

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Frontiers Of Computational Thinking at 2015 SXSW Music, Film + Interactive Festival. The event is increasingly becoming known for picking - and sometimes killing off - new tech trends.

OFF-THE-GRID MOBILE CHAT

No cell service? No problem.

An app called FireChat uses phone signals such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to connect to other users' phones and enable chats without any network connection. The app, created by a San Francisco startup called Open Garden, debuted in 2012 and was a hit last August at the Burning Man festival in Black Rock, Nevada, where cell phone service is scarce.

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SXSW Interactive: Top tech trends for 2015