When Apple Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) releases its just-announced iTV audio/video home entertainment device early next year, will the company want to sent just its content from a customer's computer to a home television and audio system? There is now quite a bit of content featured on iTunes -- millions of songs, hundreds of television shows from almost every network, and now full-length movies. But what if consumers don't buy a huge amount of content from the iTunes music store but still want to zap audio and video from their iTV to the big screen in the living room?

Enter Google Video. Seriously. There are talks on the virtual street that Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) may become the primary content provider for the iTV device based on rumored talks the Internet search leader has had with Apple. With Google CEO Eric Schmidt now sitting on the Apple board of directors maybe this will be the first partnership between the two companies? Google Video and Apple iTunes do have some crossover, both sell television shows for a fee, but the multitudes of non-commercial content found on Google Video dwarfs the content found on Apple iTunes. Between YouTube.com and Google Video there are millions of videos and clips just waiting to be viewed at any time.

Ross Rubin, an NPD analyst, says this about a possible partnership: "Google and all its competitors are focused on a three-screen approach right now; whether you're accessing them or their content on a computer screen, or on some kind of a handheld product, or on your high-definition TV." This sounds strikingly similar to Google's mission: to make information available anywhere, anytime, using any device. That information could be video, text, or audio, so this rumor fits right up there. As a Google investor, what should your questions be here? It's great that Google will be possibly getting off the computer "couch" and joining in on the fun in the living room, but I have to wonder how the company will monetize this possible effort. That or maybe it's just a brand-buidling exercise, perhaps.