Among those expected to participate are Time Inc., Condé Nast and Hearst, companies that together publish more than 50 magazines, including The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Time, People, Sports Illustrated, Esquire and O, The Oprah Magazine.

The company will prepare magazines that can work across multiple digital platforms, whether the iPhone, the BlackBerry "or countless other digital devices" (including, perhaps, the rumored iPad/iTablet). The company won't develop an e-book, but create something that people familiar with the plans compare to iTunes -- a store where you can buy new and distinct iterations of The New Yorker or Time, the New York Observer adds.

(The graphic above -- a mock-up, not a real photo, is courtesy of PC World.)