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.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) has had tremendous success with its App store, and it is once again approaching a major milestone as the company's stock continues to soar and set yet another 52-week high today.

Apple stock closed the day at its new 52-week high of $348.48, up 0.8% on the day.

Since Apple Inc. (AAPL) unleashed the iPhone on the world back in 2007 the company has sold millions of the device and created a massive market for iPhone apps. Developers have invested a lot of time and money in creating apps for the popular iPhone, but have been frustrated by the lack of guidelines and communication with Apple.

Developers have been begging for more insight into the approval process, and today Apple gave them what they wanted by releasing the guidelines it uses to review submitted apps.

Well, guys, it's become a little easier for your girlfriend to hint for that engagement ring. On the plus side, it's become easier for you to shop for one. Tiffany & Co. (TIF) has launched a new app for Apple's (AAPL) iPhone, and it may just become a girl's best friend.

The free app, called the "Engagement Ring Finder," allows a would-be groom (or bride) to browse through shapes, settings, metals, designs, and carat sizes (only up to 2.5 carats, so the super generous among you will have to visit a TIF store). It is also possible to view the rings from various angles and look at them "actual size." Users can save their favorite looks to consult with friends and family via text, email, Facebook, and Twitter.

When Apple (APPL) launched the iPhone three years ago, the big attraction was the sleek design and cool graphics. However, there was something else that was truly innovative: the app store. Basically, Apple allowed third-party developers to create applications for the iPhone, which certainly benefited customers. It has turned into a cash machine, as Apple gets a cut of all the downloads.

Wanting to capitalize on this -- as well as try to slow down Apple -- a group of mobile companies have formed an alliance, called the Wholesale Applications Community. The members include 24 companies, such as AT&T (T), China Mobile (CHL), Verizon (VZ), NTT DoCoMo, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone (VOD).

McDonald's (MCD) isn't the only company tapping into the "billions" game. In a bit of chest-thumping while Google (GOOG) announced its new cell phone, Apple (AAPL) let the world know that iPhone and iPod Touch users have pulled down 3 billion applications from the company's App Store since its launch a year and a half ago.

Steve Jobs, the company CEO, said, "This is like nothing we've ever seen before." He didn't reveal how many of these apps were free -- and whether billions and billions of downloads translate to billions and billions of dollars.

Apple's (AAPL) iPhone has reinvigorated the wireless handset industry. It was there first (in many ways) and it will be hard for any company without virtually unlimited resources to wrestle the golden crown from Apple. First movers generally don't relinquish their titles.

With Google (GOOG) set to announce the "Nexus One" handset tomorrow based on its own Android mobile operating system, does it want a piece of Apple's action? Is that its goal?

When Google (GOOG) released its Nexus One concept phone last weekend to some of its employees, the blogosphere and industry pundits went on a feeding frenzy: Would Google try and release its own wireless phone and compete directly with its existing carrier customers? Could a Google Phone give Google even more power of the information that controls our daily lives? Amol Sarva, founder of the Peek device that resembles a smartphone but only does email, chimed in on the Google Phone, which Google has coined the "Nexus One."

Sarva called Google's offering "every bit as good a piece of hardware as the Droid or the iPhone." To many, those are fighting words. Apple's (AAPL) phenomenal success with the entire iPhone ecosystem (iTunes and App Store) won't ever be matched, but Google has the best chance of anyone to get close. Indeed, the Google "Android Market," which offers applications for all the various Android-powered handsets, now has 20,000 programs available for download in just over a year. Apple had 50,000 in its first year.

The Twitter ecosystem may be changing constantly, but most of that comes on the back of individual developers and outside companies. They beat on Twitter APIs to create new products that may win them glory, recognition or cash. Over the past month, though, Twitter itself has gotten into the game, releasing or announcing a handful of new features.

A new function for "retweeting" (echoing another's tweet to your own followers), changes to how trending topics are managed, and the ability to create lists are new tools intended to engage users ... on the Twitter.com website. Considered within the context of Twitter's changed terms of service this year, the upgrades may be part of a broader ad-based revenue plan.

With the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Tablet, newspapers doing what they should have done: thinking about the possible impact to their business and trying to find ways to mitigate it. This comes 15 years after the industry ignored the internet and a decade after it disregarded Google (NASDAQ: GOOG). Of course, unwilling to admit its salient and severe fallibility, the newspaper folks are saying that they don't want the Tablet to destroy print the way the iPod destroyed the music industry.

The newspapers are apparently worried that circulation could plunge, driving profits through the floor and jeopardizing their abilities to operate. They are concerned that properties like the New York Times Co.'s (NYSE: NYT) Boston Globe could wind up selling for a single-digit percentage of the original purchase price.

Just a week after incredible gains and speculation in Vonage Holdings (NYSE: VG) pushed its stock up over 400% in just a few days, the internet telephone company announced that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has approved its iPhone app.

This is significant because of the nature of the app; it will allow iPhone customers to use their iPhones to place VoIP calls over the internet instead of using AT&T Inc.'s (NYSE: T) wireless network.

One would think that Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) would be friends. Google CEO Eric Schmidt sits on Apple's board and his company partners heavily with Apple's iPhone for Google's web products. That is, except when Google is trying to do an end-run around Apple partner AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T).

This is what it comes down to: Google Voice, the service that gives you a universal phone number that you have total control over (and even provides free text messaging!) was blocked by Apple's App Store, most likely at AT&T's request. After all, AT&T surely does not want customers bypassing its margin-heavy text messaging plans to use a free Google-provided solution.

Did anyone think that Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) would ever count 1.5 billion downloads of applications from its iPhone/iPod App Store? In a little over two years, the iPhone has become a worldwide mobile phenomenon, with three versions so far (the original, the 3G model and now the 3GS). In a little over a year, the App Store that carries 65,000 downloadable programs (give or take) has seen 1.5 billion program downloads.

What Apple has created is yet another ecosystem of products and services that mesh so well together that it can't help but be successful. Just like the iPod/iTunes universe that locked customers into a world where the hardware and software worked flawlessly, so does the iPhone/App Store combination. The competition has launched download stores as well, and even Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) has seen some slight success with its BlackBerry App World.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is making a big deal out of the fact that 60 million software applications have already been downloaded by iPhone customers. New numbers show how modest the return is on the new business.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "If sales stay at the current pace, Apple stands to reap at least $360 million a year in new revenue from the App Store." The data show the extent to which Apple is still a hardware company. Apple's revenue run rate is now about $30 billion a year.

The software figures point to a misconception about Apple. Its iTune and Mac OS products only drive very modest revenue for the firm. It could be argued that these services help sell computers, phones and iPods, but their small returns show that Apple is still saddled with a lower margin business -- building products with fairly high component costs.

Apple likes to perpetuate a fiction for its shareholders that it will move into the ultra-high margin business of software and will get great leverage for its earnings. Looking at the numbers, there is very little truth to that.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is opening its online App Store for iPhone software in a move some think is more important than the 3G iPhone launch on Friday. The App Store will let iPhone users choose from over 500 software applications to download, including games, educational programs, mobile commerce and business productivity tools.

In business, and specifically in technology, there are some people who live in the past and can't see beyond familiar and existing systems. Lucky for us, there are the true visionaries, those who innovate and take things further. Steve Jobs is one such visionary.

After seeing the success of Palm (NASDAQ: PALM) smartphones initially, and then the addictive-like relationship Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) BlackBerry owners have with their handsets, it is no wonder Apple could zero in on what consumers want and give it to them in an intuitive way. That has been Apple's mark all along.

Indeed, the Mac OS has always been touted as being the better operating system, and yet it is Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) with its Windows OS that dominates the market. Many say that Jobs' was overprotective of the software, causing third-party developers to shy away. If that's the case, Jobs has learned his lesson and is amending his stance now with the iPhone software, hoping to achieve a new computing platform.