Speculation ran rampant after Apple’s acquisition of Lala.com that Cupertino was planning to store your music library in the cloud. But a recent report finds that they don’t plan to stop there, with Hollywood and video being the next targets.

Cnet is reporting that Apple has recently met with “some of the major film studios” for a new initiative to store their content on the company’s servers. Both Netflix and Amazon Video on Demand have made great strides in the streaming department in recent months, and after years of iTunes’ “download & play” model, it appears that Apple is finally having a change of heart.

Under the new initiative, iTunes users would access video -- including feature films as well as TV shows and presumably music videos -- from various Internet-connected devices. While Apple wouldn’t comment for the Cnet story, it’s presumed that the company’s device of choice will be the forthcoming iPad.

Only a month ago, Apple was courting the major record companies with a similar business model involving the company storing users’ content on their virtual shelves. “Basically, they want to eliminate the hard drive,” one source said of the idea.

But Hollywood will likely approach with caution, according to Forrester Research media analyst James McQuivey.

“The studios are very concerned that they’re going to get roped into somebody’s proprietary platform,” McQuivey told Cnet. “They want a world where consumers have a relationship with the content, and not with the device or the service. They are in a position to force Apple to go along and make sure that content bought [via] iTunes will play on a Nokia phone. That is very un-Apple-like.

“Apple would prefer not to do this,” McQuivey concludes. “But it just doesn’t have the leverage it once did. Apple can’t dictate terms or position itself as a digital savior.”

That remains to be seen. For their part, Apple is currently building a new data center in North Carolina which is reportedly going to be the backbone for its streaming offerings. Now it just needs the content providers to get on board. If the iPad proves anywhere near as popular as the iPhone has, those content providers may have no choice but to play ball -- especially if Apple can somehow perform the same magic in the living room, where the current Apple TV device has thus far floundered.

(Image courtesy of CloudAve.com)