The two-day OTTcon (Over-the-Top TV and Video) conference took place the first week of March in San Jose, CA. In his opening keynote entitled “What Will Television Look Like in 20 Years?”, Scott Puopolo (VP Global Service Provider Practice for Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group) offered his company’s predictions on the immersive and collaborative future of TV.

Cisco interviewed 50 television experts with a focus on technology, consumer behavior, and business models to analyze the medium’s direction. Puopolo’s blog on the Cisco site offers an insightful overview of the results, including an interesting video and the implications for Cisco Videoscape. Highlights include:

Sensory Technology: “Sensory technology will enable new creative tools for producers and new experiences for consumers. So we’ll not only see Rachael Ray’s brownies — we’ll smell them, and eventually taste them, too.”

Multipurpose Screens: “Instead of buying TV sets per se, viewers will buy multipurpose screens. A screen in a bedroom could display your favorite painting or change into a teleconference monitor when you’re not watching TV.”

Interactive Collaboration: “Viewers will break the confines of the TV episode and interact with their favorite characters in everyday life. They could, for instance, collaborate with other fans to help key characters solve a crime or mystery.”

Gestural Interfaces: “Consumers will use words, gestures, and devices such as smartphones and iPads to control their TVs. You might raise the volume or choose a different show with a simple flick of your wrist.”

Rovi’s electronic program guide app “What’s on TV” receives a negative review in this evaluation from Appolicious, although the problems seem to be in the functionality, not the concept.

By entering a zip code and service provider information, users can access program guide information in addition to news and related information regarding television, movies, and celebrities. The app also enables social interaction with other TV fans via Twitter.

According to Appolicious, the downside of this simple app is evident in its navigation flaws. What’s on TV displays listings in a horizontal three-frame format (based on time, program and channel) — which sounds like a good approach — but the reviewer suggests that the “slide-able” navigation is unfortunately problematic: “If I only had channels 1 through 10, Rovi’s aesthetic design would work nicely. But, of course, I have many, many more channels, and this is where Rovi’s lack of user-friendliness is rooted. The only way to get to a particular channel is by scrolling to it. Although my basic standard-def channels are in the single digits, my extended SD programming starts on channel 101. Want to see what’s on HD? I’ll be scrolling to channel 602 for that. That’s a lot of swiping.”

Internet TV pioneer Hulu is reportedly in discussions to transform its business model. Since its 2008 launch, Hulu has been one of the leaders in free online television delivery and web-video ad dollars.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Hulu’s three owners (NBC Universal, News Corp. and Disney) are concerned that free Web versions of their TV shows are cutting into their traditional business, and the three are at odds regarding how much of their content should be offered for free.

News Corp.’s Fox Broadcasting and Disney’s ABC are considering pulling some of their free content from Hulu (and selling more content to Hulu competitors), while Hulu management is discussing the idea of retooling Hulu as an online cable operator that would use the Web to provide live TV channels and video-on-demand content to customers. If they opt to move forward with such a plan, some form of Hulu’s free service would likely remain and it is possible Hulu Plus could be folded into the new service.

Forbes spoke with Flipboard CEO Mike McCue about the latest version of Apple’s official iPad “App of the Year.” As of December 2010, Flipboard was running on about 1 million iPads — and the 25-person company is developing HTML5 code for the app to eventually run on Android, iPhone and the Web.

The recent Flipboard upgrade includes more dynamic and immersive features such as deeper integration with Facebook and Twitter (and a new focus on other social networks like Google Reader and Flickr), the ability to upload content (for example, you can post Facebook status updates or tweet from Flipboard), and access RSS feeds.

Flipboard has future plans to offer more social integration with the likes of LinkedIn, Posterous, Instapaper, and Vbulletin.

DivX TV, launched late last year, is another entertainment service available for the “connected” home and mobile electronics. The company has expanded its library to offer more than 10,000 “high-quality videos” including a range of Web content. DivX TV is also customizable, with features such as bookmarks and personalized channels.

For now, the service is exclusive to LG’s Blu-ray products (including BD550, BD570 and BD590 Blu-ray players and LHB335, LHB535 and LHB975 home theater systems).

No word yet on whether DivX TV will tie in to the NetCast service found on LG’s connected products.

NPR interviewed David Hockney who has been using his iPhone and iPad to create drawings with the help of a painting app called Brushes. The 73-year-old artist recently held an exhibit of his new artwork in the Pierre Berge-Yves St. Laurent Foundation in Paris. Hundreds of digital works were displayed on 40 screens (20 iPhones and 20 iPads) during the “Fresh Flowers” exhibition that ran through January 30.

Hockney initially became intrigued by the process while observing the morning sun enter his bedroom in Yorkshire, England. He would dip his fingers into the virtual paintbox on the phone’s screen, “paint” some flowers digitally in the morning light, and email to friends. “Incredible little thing, really, because it was like a sketchbook and a paintbox all in one,” the artist says. “No cleaning up. No mess.”

When he made the switch from the iPhone to the larger iPad, Hockney was able to expand upon his work and found he could use more fingers to create his art. Now he travels with the iPad as a substitute for the sketchbooks he always had with him. Old habits die hard, though. “He says he sometimes gets so obsessed that when he’s going, he rubs his finger on his clothes to, like, clean his finger — as if he was using real paint.”

Sony announced it will soon offer a professional monitor aimed at TV and film production industries that contains the largest commercial organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screen yet produced. OLED is a flat-panel technology that rivals liquid-crystal display (LCD), with pixels that contain an organic material that emits its own light when energized, so screens can be made thinner and more efficient. OLED also displays brighter and richer images than LCD panels.

Despite recent tech advances, manufacturers have had a difficult time getting OLED production to the point where it can create reliable larger screens. Smaller screens designed for cell phones and portable devices have not been an issue, but larger screens have remained problematic. Despite earlier prototypes and announced plans from the likes of Sony, Samsung and LG, we have yet to see OLED TVs larger than 11-inches on the consumer market.

Sony is positioning the new Trimaster EL professional OLED monitors for use in editing bays, satellite trucks, and broadcasting control rooms. Expect to see the 25-inch screen ($28,840) by May 1 and a 17-inch model by July 1.

Apple is in talks with record companies to provide iTunes users with more flexible access to purchased music on multiple devices. Apple and the record labels are eager to strike a deal that will maintain demand for digital downloading in the midst of popular streaming services such as Pandora.

According to anonymous sources reportedly sitting in on the discussions, a deal would provide iTunes users with a permanent back-up of purchases and allow downloads to iPad, iPod, and iPhone devices from the same iTunes account (moving a step closer to access to Internet-stored content).

In addition to addressing stalled digital download sales, Apple is also weighing options for its MobileMe service for storing images, video, and other media online. Apple’s new $1 billion data center in North Carolina is expected to serve as a hub for iTunes and MobileMe services.

More than a year has passed since Final Cut Pro’s last release, but the word is out that Apple has plans for a Spring announcement. Apple recently invited a small group of professional video editors to the Cupertino campus for a test run.

According to TechCrunch, early reports from those who demonstrated the new version suggest that the changes are “dramatic and ambitious” and may address concerns that Apple has turned its focus regarding video editing from the professional to the consumer space.

The new version of Final Cut Pro is said to be a “major overhaul” reports 9to5Mac, including a new user interface, 64-bit compatibility, and architectural enhancements.

TechCrunch reports Apple has plans to release the new version of FCP in Spring 2011, in a launch possibly coinciding with April’s NAB conference.

In this video interview from San Francisco, Wall Street Journal “Personal Technology” columnist Walt Mossberg provides his first impressions of the new thinner and lighter Apple iPad 2, premiered by Steve Jobs at an invitation-only event on March 2.

New features worth noting include front and rear-view cameras, a thinner form factor than the iPhone, faster graphics, and dual core processors. It seems that Apple addressed the shortcomings recently targeted in advertising by its competitors. Mossberg comments that Apple did enough to stay ahead, but suggests they’re not going to claim 90 percent of the market share like they did last year due to the sheer volume of competing tablets this time around.

Mossberg comments on Apple’s focus on content creation, as opposed to content consumption, which the company hopes will change the way some consumers see the device. He also suggests it is a big deal that Apple has been able to maintain its $499 price tag for the new version. (The Wi-Fi versions start at $499 for a 16GB model and $699 for a 64GB configuration, while the 3G iPads are priced from $629 to $829.)

According to a press release from Turner Sports, CBS Sports and the NCAA, this year’s 68-team NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship tournament will feature newly enhanced March Madness on Demand (MMOD) live products. The services (produced by Turner Sports Interactive) will be available across multiple platforms, including online, and as an app for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and for the first time, the iPad. Features available over Wi-Fi and 3G include live viewing with larger format streams, a personalized channel lineup, live in-game stats, social companion views, and more.

Live streaming of every game broadcast by CBS Sports and Turner Sports will start with the First Four on March 15, and run through the Men’s Final Four semifinals and national championship game on April 2 and April 4.

Beginning March 10, free mobile apps will be available for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad from the iTunes Apps store.

For a complete list of features, check out the press release included in the Engadget post.

Fans of Discovery Channel HD programming may be interested in the free Discovery app for the iPad (released March 2, 2011). Three days after the app’s release, its developer Bottle Rocket Apps announced that Discovery Channel HD was “the top free iPad app on the entire iTunes App Store.”

Features of the new app include chat sessions with show hosts and fans, images (including production stills), daily video clips, scheduling information, tune-in reminder alerts, science news, social interaction via Facebook and Twitter, and more.

The app is available at iTunes: Discovery Channel HD by Discovery Communications

The Nintendo 3DS has launched in Japan with plans to hit the U.S. and European markets next month. The portable device is the first of its kind to offer glasses-free 3D gaming.

Despite the sellout of pre-order stocks, gaming enthusiasts showed up in droves for the Japanese release.  However, it remains to be seen how the 3DS will compete worldwide with the new casual gaming capabilities of tablet PCs, the Apple iPhone, Android-powered smartphones, and the next generation portable from Sony (expected to launch in 10 months).

According to Reuters, Nintendo will initially run with the formula that has traditionally worked with its DS: “a dedicated portable games device with software available on cartridges that cost $30 or more.”

Film editor and sound designer Walter Murch wrote a letter to Roger Ebert in which he discusses the pitfalls of editing and viewing 3D movies.

Ebert notes that Murch is uniquely qualified to comment on 3D, considering he has received Academy Award nominations for films edited on four different systems, including: upright Moviola, KEM flatbed, Avid, and Final Cut Pro. He also edited the 3D “Captain Eo” in the 1980s and wrote “In the Blink of an Eye: A Perspective on Film Editing” in 1995.

In his letter, Murch addresses a number of compelling points such as the inherent darkness of the 3D image, the strobe effect of horizontal movement in 3D, and what he sees as problematic issues involving how our eyes and brain interpret convergence, focus, and immersion. Murch sums up his take on 3D as, “dark, small, stroby, headache inducing, alienating. And expensive. The question is: how long will it take people to realize and get fed up?”

VUWER (Vanderbilt University Web Enabled Recovery) is a free, open source, Mac OS X background app that assists in the tracking of stolen Macs. The app checks a web or remote computer account at regular intervals, in the background without disrupting use. If a computer is stolen, the owner can change the message that VUWER reads in order to track vital information.

VUWER can collect screen capture images of what the thief is viewing. It can also activate the iSight camera to capture images of who is in front of the Mac and capture geolocated IP address information. This information is forwarded to the owner silently, in the background, without the thief catching on.

Additionally, VUWER is written in Applescript, so it is simple to modify.