NEW YORK - Apple CEO Steve Jobs has finally agreed to participate in a book about his life.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs smiles during his appearance at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, California in this June 7, 2010 file photo. [Photo/Agencies]

Simon & Schuster announced Sunday that Walter Isaacson's "iSteve: The Book of Jobs" will be published in early 2012. Isaacson has been working on the long-rumored biography since 2009 and has interviewed Jobs, members of his family, colleagues at Apple and competitors.

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Many books have been published about Jobs, but not with his approval. Isaacson has written best-selling biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein.

Jobs, has had numerous health problems and announced in January that he would take his third leave of absence in seven years. He has survived a rare but curable form of pancreatic cancer and undergone a liver transplant. He appeared at a news conference in March to announce the iPad 2.