A new business model is springing up right under our noses. The big players like Apple (AAPL), Amazon.com (AMZN) and Google (GOOG) have put together a one-stop shop in their app stores.

First off, an app store is just that, a place where you can pick and choose the apps you want to download. The app store is also a place where entrepreneurs can develop an app and with permission place it on the iPhone, iPad or Android device.

ARM Holdings (ARMH) is far away from Silicon Valley. Its headquarters are on the campus of Cambridge University in England. ARM holdings has carved out a unique niche in the computer chip market.

It is a different kind of chip maker. Its core business is licensing chip designs to larger companies like Apple (AAPL), Samsung (SSNLF) and Qualcomm (QCOM.), as reported in the New York Times.

Mobile chips leader Qualcomm (QCOM) is planning to launch a variety of 'augmented reality' software for use in different consumer applications, according to Bloomberg/Businessweek.

Qualcomm wants to drive demand for its powerful processors that can handle high speed computing tasks for mobile devices. To do that, it intends to promote processor intensive augmented reality applications. Augmented reality aims to aid consumers with what they see. By pointing the phone's camera to objects and scanning them, the application can then identify them in the database, and find relevant material.

Lately, Research In Motion (RIMM) has been ramping up its dealmaking. Some of the recent transactions include QNX, Dash Navigation and Torch Mobile.

Tthe latest deal came this week: RIM agreed to buy Gist (the price tag was not disclosed). The company develops a service that prioritizes incoming messages. It even provides the user with helpful research information on contacts, such as from social networks and blogs. The app is currently for Apple's (AAPL) iPhone and Google's (GOOG) Android devices.

New technology spawns still more technology. Such is the case with smart phones. Entrepreneurs have found a way to facilitate buying with your smart phone. Companies like Intuit (INTU) and VeriFone (PAY) have created a card reader that can be inserted into your iPhone (AAPL) or other smart phone. Then you can swipe a credit card through the reader and use it to make online purchases.

The potential of this new technology is enormous. Analysts estimate that the industry will grow to $11 billion this year.

This is probably one of the most interesting stories of the Internet revolution. Microsoft (MSFT) jumped out the starting gate with its Windows operating system and took the world by storm. Then for some unknown reason, Microsoft missed the entire search engine revolution and Google (GOOG) raced to first place. Now Microsoft has again missed the next leg -- the iPhone and iPad revolution, and Apple (AAPL) holds first place in this segment.

Nokia (NOK) was a pioneer in the smartphone revolution, but with Apple's drive to the top, Nokia lost its momentum. Once Nokia had 50% of the handset market. Now that share has fallen to just 29%. It's hard to believe but Microsoft has only 2% of the global phone software market.

Yesterday marked a pretty big day for Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), as customers could finally walk into a Verizon store and pick up an iPhone. Some analysts had expected to see some long lines, but they did not materialize, creating the impression that the launch was less than successful, but looks can be deceiving.

It is easy to understand where the confusion comes from. In the past, whenever Apple released a new iPhone we saw long lines and often not even supply to cover the launch date demand, resulting in long waits for eager iPhone fanatics to get their hands on the new smartphone.

Apple, Inc.'s (AAPL) gibe at Google Inc.'s (GOOG) Android OS is that it was not designed for tablets. Google answered that challenge last week with the launch of Honeycomb. Motorola Mobility's (MMI) Xoom, due out later this month, will feature Honeycomb and should make a splash in the tablet market as competition heats up among tablet manufacturers and affiliated operating systems.

Even with the older version, Android has already started to dent iPad's market share due to the success of Samsung's Galaxy Tab, and we expect that Xoom could improve Android's position intensifying the showdown between Android and Apple's iPad OS.

The day started off shaky for Apple Inc. (AAPL) after its leader and CEO, Steve Jobs, announced that he would be taking his second medical leave of absence yesterday.

The stock was in the red all day, but did rebound a bit at the end of the day, closing today's session down 2.2% to $340.65, after trading as low as $326.00 earlier in the day.

This post is one in a series in which more than 60 newsletter advisors share their Top Stock Picks for 2011. This special report is courtesy of TheStockAdvisors.com.

"Marvell Technology Group (MRVL) clearly fits the bill of a stock that is currently unloved by Wall Street." says tech guru Paul McWilliams.

The editor of Next Inning explains, "As a matter of a fact, there's not much at all that Wall Street likes about the company. Nevertheless, I would choose this as one of my favorite stocks for the coming year.

The market for streaming video calling is exploding. An estimated 13.2 million people worldwide will make video calls this year, up 400% from last year. By 2015, it is estimated that 155.1 million calls will use streaming videos.

Skype is a leader in low-cost phone calls. Calls to other people who have Skype are usually free. Now Skype is offering video calling for as low as $8.99 per month, with up to 10 people on the same call. Skype accounts for 25% of international calling traffic, up from 13% in 2009.

This post is one in a series in which more than 60 newsletter advisors share their Top Stock Picks for 2011. This special report is courtesy of TheStockAdvisors.com.

"I'm expecting big things out of Augme Technologies (AUGT) this year," says Nathan Slaughter.

The editor of Street Authority Market Advisor explains, "Specifically, the company has developed breakthrough technology that facilitates the delivery of customized web content to mobile phones.