Google TV will be launching its highly-anticipated, Android-based TV operating system in a few weeks. It will come embedded on many Internet connected TV's, as well as a stand-alone set top box.

Google TV is a "converged" product, blending traditional TV programming with web content, VOD, recorded programming, and personal media.

It will have an Android-based TV application platform, with a ton of ready-to-use apps & widgets out of the box.

It will have web search.

It will have the famous Google-simple UI for search and discovery of video, via a comfortable, in-the-lazy-boy chair, lean-back experience.

It will have seamless integration with YouTube. It will have Netflix integration. (But probably not Hulu.)

It ought to be a killer app for the living room.

However...

Google TV won't have TV programming, at least not natively. It you want live news, ESPN, CSN, CNN, HBO, TWC, Discovery, FOX News, MSNBC, etc, you'll need to connect Google TV to your cable service.

You see, Google TV is not meant to be a replacement of your cable service. It is meant to be an enhancer of your cable TV. Or so the Google PR folks say.

This sounds a lot like the TiVo story all over: a killer app for the living room (the DVR), but not a disrupter of the TV supply chain. In fact, TiVo was ultimately unable to compete with the large MSO's, and that has completely diminished their upside.

With all the parallels to TiVo, will Google TV be different? Will it be able to disrupt the TV supply chain, or will the content distributors apply leverage and keep Google in check?

Content is king, after all.