The mobile world is ablaze with talk about Apple's forthcoming announcement on January 27th, which is fully expected to be the official unveiling of the iSlate tablet.

But behind the scenes the Wall Street Journal believes Apple is already working hard at building up uses for its new tablet, and is talking with a host of book publishers to bring their works to the large form touchscreen.

According to the report, publisher HarperCollins is currently negotiating a deal with Apple to release e-books for the new platform. The deal  - if real - sounds much like the current App Store model, with Apple taking a percentage of each sale while the rest of the revenue passes directly to the publisher.

Whether this will be operated through iTunes, with book publishers working up their own applications and formats, or whether Apple is planning to install a specific e-book section for the tablet, is unclear.

Previous rumours have been heard about newspapers and magazines taking an interest in going digital when the right device come along, so the displayed word could soon be set to replace the printed one.