The biography of Steve Jobs, written by Walter Isaacson, has topped the charts, become the best-selling book of the year 2011.  It should come as no surprise, given the growing interest in Jobs since his untimely death earlier this year.  Isaacson’s memoir beat out Tina Fey’s book Bossypants, as well as A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard and The Mill River Recluse by Darcie Chan, quickly rising in rank even with just a few weeks on shelves.

While expected, what makes the success of this biography really interesting is that it was released  relatively late in the year.

And there’s more good news for Apple fans, as rumors grow around the iPad 3, which might become available in March or April 2012. The rumors came from DigiTimes, which says that the parts needed to build Apple’s next tablet have started being shipped to factories, while shipments of iPad 2 parts have been reduced.

That means even more people will be able to access and enjoy one of the biggest mobile ecosystems to date.  Things are working quite well for Apple, which reports that 500,000 apps have now been published in the App Store, reaching 18 billion downloads since it launched three years ago. These include apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad tablet at a whopping rate of over one billion every month.

At the moment, all App Stores follow the same business model, in which Apple gets a 70 percent stake of all downloads and in-app purchases, while the developer/publisher of the app gets 30 percent. That includes hosting and credit card fees, as well as “marketing” for the app, says Apple.

That tops Google, which reported just last week that the Android Market had reached 10 billion downloads.  It’s a heated race Apple and Google are running, and the expanse of their respective markets extend to their revenue, OS market share, advertising potential and developer participation.  There’s a new mobile industry bubbling underfoot, and for different reasons, Apple and  Google remain top players in a rapidly evolving market.