Apple has "cracked" how to build an integrated television that is "completely easy to use", Steve Jobs revealed to his biographer.

The world's most valuable company has also discussed with book publishers plans to transform textbooks into digital products that aren't just words on a screen but designed specifically for reading on an iPad tablet.

An Apple TV mockup created by Amnesia Razorfish as part of its April Fool's joke. Credit:Amnesia Razorfish

It comes as other revelations have been uncovered in the biography, such as Jobs declaring "thermonuclear war" on Google and its Android mobile platform, calling executives who took over Apple "corrupt" and delaying cancer surgery in favour of bowel cleansings and herbal medicine.

In the book released today and written by Walter Isaacson, who also wrote biographies of Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin, the late Apple co-founder left the biggest hints yet as to the direction Apple would now take in terms of new products. One of those hints was that the company would delve into selling Apple-branded TV sets.