Apple in talks with book publisher

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple has entered into talks with HarperCollins about bringing e-books to the rumoured Apple tablet.

The tablet is expected to be unveiled at the company’s January 27th event, and the WSJ said that Apple’s Cupertino headquarters have been in talks with other publishers about bringing digital content to the rumoured device.

This is the first report of Apple talking to a major book publisher, though it has met with magazine publishers in the past.

The WSJ article referenced HarperCollins Chief Executive Brian Murray, who said that e-books enhanced with video, author interviews and social networking applications would have a higher retail price, which would be a boon for publishers.

The article said that while details between the two haven’t been ironed out, book prices would be set by HarperCollins but Apple would take a percentage of sales, possibly selling the books through the iTunes store.