Tuesday, January 26, 2010, 06:20 pm

McGraw-Hill CEO spills details on iPhone OS-based Apple tablet

By AppleInsider Staff

Appearing on financial network CNBC Tuesday afternoon, the CEO of publisher McGraw-Hill confirmed that Apple will announce its tablet Wednesday, and that the device will run the iPhone mobile operating system.

In an interview with Erin Burnett on the program "Street Signs," Terry McGraw was asked about Apple's forthcoming tablet, expected to be announced at an event Wednesday. Burnett asked if textbooks would be available on the unannounced device, and McGraw said yes.

"Very exciting," he said. "You know, they will make their announcement tomorrow on this one. We have worked with Apple for quite awhile, and the tablet is going to be based on the iPhone operating system, and so it will be transferable.

"So what you're going to be able to do now -- we have a consortium of e-books, you know, and we have 95 percent of all of our materials that are in e-book formats on that one. So now, with the tablet, you're going to open up the higher education market, the professional market. The tablet is going to be just really terrific."

McGraw's confirmation of the tablet reaffirms rumors that have persisted for months that the company was in negotiations with Apple to provide comment on the tablet. Last week, one report alleged that McGraw-Hll officials were discussing how their software developers and Apple's could collaborate to create dynamic e-books. It was said those negotiations were just as focused on marketing as they are on software development.

McGraw's full interview is embedded below: