Steve Jobs, Apple's notoriously private CEO, has authorized a biography on his life called "iSteve: The Book of Jobs."

The "iSteve" book will hits stores in early 2012 -- releasing on Day 1 both in bookstores and as an iBook for Apple's iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch devices, said Tracy Guest, a spokeswoman at Simon & Schuster, which is handling publishing.

The book is being written by Walter Isaacson, the president of the Aspen Institute, a think tank in Washington.

Isaacson is a former executive at Time and CNN and has written the bestselling biographies "Benjamin Franklin: An American Life" and "Einstein: His Life and Universe."

Jobs has been cooperating with Isaacson on the book since 2009. The writer has interviewed the CEO and his family members as well as key figures at Apple and its competitors.

"This is the perfect match of subject and author, and it is certain to be a landmark book about one of the world's greatest innovators," Jonathan Karp, publisher at Simon & Schuster, said in a statement. "Just as he did with Einstein and Benjamin Franklin, Walter Isaacson is telling a unique story of revolutionary genius."

Jobs is on a medical leave of absence from Apple and has handed many of his day-to-day duties over to Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook. Jobs is still involved in major Apple moves and showed up in person to unveil the iPad 2 tablet last month.

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Photo: Apple CEO Steve Jobs applauds during the launch of the iPad 2 in San Francisco last month. Credit: Beck Diefenbach / Reuters

Image: The cover of "iSteve: The Book of Jobs," a biography of Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Credit: Simon & Schuster

Apple is in talks with record companies to allow users to download music tracks they buy on iTunes to any iTunes-enabled device, Bloomberg reported Friday. That would presumably mean any song you buy for your iPhone could then be downloaded multiple times (for no extra cost) to your iPad, your Mac or your PC.

In many ways this move is exactly in line with what other media publishers have already started to do -- let users pay once, and use anywhere.  That way, users can forget whether they first bought a book or television show for a specific device, and just watch it whenever and wherever they want.

Apple, which now controls a huge chunk of the music business through iTunes, also wants to get to that place of ultimate convenience, and has been moving in that direction for some time.

The company has already got AirPlay, which lets users play songs from any iTunes device through an Apple TV.  And this week Apple said the new version of its iOS operating system will enable users to play music and video stored on one device on the screen of a second device, over WiFi.

If and when Apple gets the music industry to agree to repeated downloads, there's no longer any real barrier to cloud-based, streaming music -- where listeners won't have to wait for downloads, because they'll be able to immediately play any song in their online music collection.

The e-book industy has largely pioneered this approach:  If you buy an Amazon e-book, you can download it to your Kindle, your PC, and any smartphone or tablet with the Kindle app installed.  The same is true for books bought through Google. Even Apple's iBookStore allows users to sync their books between the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

This is increasingly also the case with movies and TV shows, where services like Netflix allow users with monthly subscriptions to watch movies and TV on any Netflix-enabled device, whether that's a Roku box or a TiVo, an iPad, an iPhone, Windows Phones and soon, Android.  You can watch these movies and films as many times as you want.

Though newspaper and magazine publishers are a little further behind the game, they''ll all be multiplatform soon too.  The for-pay Wall Street Journal, already on the iPad, was early in releasing an Android app, and magazine publisher Condé Nast has said Android additions are on the way too.

When it comes to ease of accessing content you've bought online, the only real holdout is the music industry. 

On the league-leading iTunes system, users have long been frustrated with their inability to keep all their purchased music in one central place.  The result is often a set of Apple devices -- a Mac, an iPhone and an iPad, say -- all with different fragments of your music collection.  That collection, incidentally, does not reside on a remote server, but on your own devices -- so if you've been downloading music from Apple for years on a series of devices, it becomes a confusing jumble. 

That's why Bloomberg's report makes sense:  Apple doesn't like clutter.  What they like is allowing people to easily buy things, and be able to access them without friction -- the better to get people to buy even more.

The remaining question may be:  If the record companies jump on board with this model, will they let users who bought songs through Apple listen to the songs on non-Apple devices? 

Or would that be too easy...

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Apple Inc. is changing the rules about how e-books can be sold and accessed via its iPhone and iPad devices -- a move that may get the attention of regulators, one analyst said.

Apple on Tuesday said it was changing its rules to require any vendors who sell books to iPhone and iPad users through their websites to also allow users to buy books inside the app. Until now, companies such as Google and Amazon have routed iPhone app users to their own book sites to purchase books they could download into the app. But Apple is now probably going to force those booksellers to change their apps.

"We are now requiring that if an app offers customers the ability to purchase books outside of the app, that the same option is also available to customers from within the app with in-app purchase," said a statement by Apple spokesperson Trudy Muller.

Sony sparked an outcry Monday night when it said the latest version of its e-reading app had been rejected by Apple over related issues.

James McQuivey, an analyst with Forrester Research, saw the move by Apple as a way to force more transactions to be funneled through its app store, where Apple receives a 30% cut of any sale.

"One way to look at this is that Apple is leveraging its monopoly power"over the iPad and iPhone platforms," McQuivey said. "One could argue that Apple is simply maximizing shareholder value by leveraging its platforms."

But McQuivey cited two potential drawbacks to Apple’s approach.

By dictating where digital books can be sold and turning away developers such as Sony, Apple may be squelching innovation, he said.

Secondly, such restrictions could be interpreted as restraint of trade, which is frowned upon by federal regulators such as the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

"I wouldn’t be surprised if phones were ringing at the FTC today about this," McQuivey said.

It's no secret that users of Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's nook digital book readers can "lend" copies of the books they've purchased to friends.

But imagine if your universe of friends consisted of millions of people, not just the five or six people in your book club. The lending library suddenly becomes much more interesting.

That's what EBookFling wants to create. The site, which officially kicks off Wednesday morning but was up and running Tuesday, ultimately will let users borrow books listed by other members -- for free.

Here's how it would work. Users can list any digital book they've purchased. When another member requests to borrow it, EBookFling sends the book owner a message with step-by-step instructions for lending it. Each time the user lends a book, they earn a credit, which can be used to borrow other members' books. Each lending period lasts 14 days.

At the moment, the site is only registering new subscribers and letting them submit the titles they're willing to lend. Users won't be able to start borrowing for a month or so while the site ramps up to a full launch, according to Nick Ruffilo, chief information officer for EBookFling.

For those wondering whether this is legal, Ruffilo said that the service is perfectly legitimate and allowed by the lending policies set by Amazon for the Kindle and Barnes & Noble for the nook. Messages to Barnes & Noble and Amazon were not immediately returned.

"Legally, this is using a feature that already exists," Ruffilo said. "It fits with the terms of use."

Ruffilo admits that book publishers aren't likely to embrace EBookFling with open arms, especially if digital lending leads to a why-buy-when-you-can-borrow attitude as consumers continue to fret about the economy.

"Logically, one could say that publishers can end up losing money," Ruffilo said. "It would be hard to argue with that, because it’s not incorrect. But it’s also not the whole picture."

Ruffilo argues why publishers should actually welcome his service.

"When you borrow a book written by an author you've never read before, you may become a fan and buy her other books and maybe her future books too," he said. "Books themselves are great marketing. New genres pop up all the time, like steampunk. You may not know what it's about, but once you get a chance to try it, you might be open to buying it. We’re providing a discovery and marketing venue."

For now, the New Jersey-based startup doesn't need financial assistance from publishers. The site is backed by BookSwim, a profitable, privately held book rental service that operates much like Netflix. The service lets subscribers borrow physical books via mail for a monthly fee ranging from $23.95 for 3 books checked out at a time to $59.95 for 11 books.

Still, the service needs some cooperation from publishers, which ultimately get to decide whether they enable the lending feature for Amazon and Barnes & Noble. If lending eats into sales, publishers may reduce the lending period or opt out of the feature altogether.

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Google is building an Android newsstand and has begun talks with several magazine publishers in an effort to corral digital content, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The move would ratchet up Google's efforts to challenge Apple with its Android operating system by offering publishers an alternative distribution route on smart phones and tablet computers to that of Apple's iTunes, iPhone and iPad.

Google has discussed the Android newsstand with publishers such as Condé Nast, the Hearst Corp. and Time Warner's Time Inc. and has promised some that it would take a smaller cut than the 30% share of revenue that Apple normally takes through iTunes, according to the Journal report, which cites anonymous sources.

The search-engine giant, also known for its Web-based Google Gmail system, also has offered to give publishers access to certain pieces of personal data from each customer who purchases versions of its publications on Android, the report said.

Apple might also be making similar moves toward sharing more of a customer's personal data with publishers, the Journal reported, as well as other changes to iTunes to help publishers more easily for sell subscriptions and single issues of magazines.

It's unknown when Google might launch its Android newsstand, and it's possible the effort might not come to fruition, the report said.

Officials at Apple and Google could not be reached for comment on the rumors Monday morning.

Google already has dipped a toe into the publishing pool. Last month, Google started selling books online through its Google eBookstore in a move that challenged not only Apple's iBooks, but also online retailer Amazon, maker of the Kindle e-reader.

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Photo: A woman holds an iPad displaying the cover of the multimedia magazine Project, developed for the iPad by Richard Branson, head of Virgin Group, at a news conference in New York on Nov. 30, 2010. Credit: Mike Segar / Reuters

Bookseller Barnes & Noble said Thursday that it now sells more digital books than physical volumes on its online bookstore.

Customers bought or downloaded nearly 1 million e-books on Christmas Day alone, the company said in a press release.

The Nook e-reader has become a bestseller, according to the bookseller. The Nook Color, introduced two months before Christmas, was the company's No. 1 selling holiday gift item, according to the company release.

Barnes & Noble launched the Nook last year to compete with Amazon's Kindle reader. Analysts estimate that Barnes & Noble has sold about 2 million Nooks, while the Kindle, launched in 2007, is thought to have sold about 6 million devices, according to Reuters.

While Barnes & Noble claims a 20% share of the e-book market, the company reported a loss in the quarter ending Oct. 30.

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Amazon's third-generation Kindle is the best-selling item on Amazon.com, ever.

The retail-giant declined to disclose official sales numbers for the latest version of its Kindle, but did say Monday that its e-reader had sold in the millions and surpassed its previous all-time best seller: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series.

Amazon also said that many consumers were buying Kindles alongside tablet computers.

"Customers report using their LCD tablets for games, movies and Web browsing and their Kindles for reading sessions," Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and chief executive, said in a statement.

"They report preferring Kindle for reading because it weighs less, eliminates battery anxiety with its month-long battery life, and has the advanced paper-like Pearl e-ink display that reduces eye-strain, doesn't interfere with sleep patterns at bedtime, and works outside in direct sunlight," the statement said.

The Kindle's $139 price point is another key reason tablet owners aren't shying away from the e-reader, Amazon said.

The company also announced -- again without disclosing specific numbers -- that on Saturday, Christmas Day, more people turned on new Kindles for the first time, downloaded more Kindle apps, and purchased more Kindle books than on any other day in history.

On Amazon.com's busiest day this year, Nov. 29, it sold products at a pace of 158 items per second -- a new company record -- ending in more than 13.7 million items to customers in 178 different countries. 

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November and December have been good for online retailers. Holiday shoppers spent 12% more than they did during the 2009 season, according to research firm ComScore.

Over the 47-day period ending Dec. 17, buyers dropped $27.5 billion online -- $5.2 billion of it last week. Four of those days brought in a haul that surpassed $900 million, making it the heaviest week of online spending in U.S. history.

The traditional spending frenzy of the post-Thanksgiving weekend -– Black Friday and Cyber Monday -– helped boost numbers, but the free shipping deals offered by more than 1,500 online merchants also were key, ComScore said.

During each week of the holiday season, more than half of transactions came with a free shipping offer.

Shoppers went gaga for computer hardware, shelling out 25% more in the category this year as they scrambled to buy laptops and handheld devices such as Apple iPads and e-readers. The consumer-electronics sector grew 22% in revenue, buoyed by flat-panel televisions. Other strong performers included books and magazines, computer software and toys.

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Photo: In this photo illustration, an ad seen on the Target website for a Cyber Monday sale is displayed on laptop computers on Nov. 29, 2010. Credit: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Amazon.com Inc. didn't let Google enjoy the e-book spotlight for very long.

One day after Google announced its new e-book store, its new rival in electronic reading announced a 'read anywhere' function of its own, available "in the coming months." (That's corporate-speak for "it's not ready yet and we're not quite sure when it will be.") But when it finally is, Amazon's Kindle for the Web feature will allow, as the company says, "anyone with access to a Web browser to buy and read full Kindle books -- no download or installation required."

It's no surprise that the announcement takes sharp aim at the one feature that distinguished Google from the other electronic booksellers: the ability to read in a browser. 

Amazon is clearly looking to take some of the shine off of Google's new bookstore. The heart of Google's claim Monday was that its e-book platform was not tied to any device: Its books can be read on a variety of smart phones, e-ink readers, tablets and PCs. But Amazon's books can already be read on most of those devices, including Apple's iPhone, iPod and iPad and Google-powered Android tablets and phones. Now that Amazon is about to have a Web interface, it's just about caught up to Google in terms of the spectrum of devices with which it works.

The main difference now is the Kindle: Amazon's e-books work on the company's league-leading e-reader, but Google books don't. According to a November report from Forrester, about 32% of the electronic reading public read on a Kindle, only slightly behind the 35% that read on a laptop. All other devices are far behind.

In a way, the still nascent e-book landscape is caught in a VHS versus Betamax war of standards, in which major sellers are vying for market share, while consumers are left with a choice between copy-protected book 'formats' that are tied to a particular company.

Almost makes one nostalgic for old-fashioned paper books -- almost!

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Photo: Google. Credit: Daniel Deme / EPA

Google Inc. is penning the next chapter in the story of electronic books.

Today the Mountain View, Calif., technology giant is unveiling its long-expected "Google eBooks" platform, an e-book store that contains 3 million volumes, most of which are free public domain works.

But hundreds of thousands of Google's e-books will be paid titles from major and minor publishers.  Those will include many bestsellers and, Google says, the vast majority of books already commercially available in electronic form.

By opening its eBookStore, Google is pitting itself squarely against established digital booksellers, including the market leader Amazon.com and relative newcomer Apple Inc.  Google's stated aim -- captured by the slogan "buy anywhere, read anywhere," is to allow users to purchase and read books from as many devices as possible.

The books can be read online -- through a new Google reading interface also launching today. They'll also work on a number of tablet and e-reader devices, including Apple's iPad and iPhone, Android-based smartphones and tablets, and e-ink devices from Sony and Barnes & Noble.

Amazon Kindle users will not be able to purchase new books from Google, though the Kindle will be able to display some of Google's public domain (non-copyrighted) books.