Weekly Tech Highlights: Apple's 3 New iPhones, BlackBerry's Big Win And More

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The last full week of March was filled with Apple handset and service rumors, quarterly results from a former smartphone leader and more.

Apple Rumored To Introduce New 3 Phones…

What could be better than two new
iPhones
in 2015? How about three?
Apple Inc.AAPL
is
reportedly working
on a trio of handsets this year, including the expected iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. To serve the old-school iPhone market, Apple is also thought to be working on a four-inch iPhone 6C.

…And A New Music Service

Not content to let iTunes Radio have all the fun, Apple is also rumored to be developing an on-demand music service to compete with
Spotify
. "What could be a game changer, and a lot of it depends on its success or not success, is the watch," Rich Tullo, Director of Research at Albert Fried & Company,
told Benzinga
. "If the [music] service becomes the app (or a primary app) for the watch, then I suspect they'll do very well on it."

Related Link: Expert: 50% Of New iPhone Buyers Will Adopt Apple Pay Within 2 Years

Apple May Also Be Searching For Growth In China With Trade-Ins

The Cupertino, California-based tech giant is also expected to introduce an
iPhone trade-in program
in China. Foxconn will reportedly buy and resell the handsets for Apple.
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BlackBerry Reported Q4 Profit

BlackBerry LtdBBRYsurprised investors
with a Q4 profit of $28 million (or $0.05 per share) versus a hefty year-ago loss of $423 million. Unfortunately, revenue fell to $660 million versus $976 million last year. Analyst didn't expect the company to turn a profit (they forecasted a los of $0.05 per share), but they thought BlackBerry would report $786.4 million in revenue.

Paydiant Co-Founder Said More Mobile Payment Firms Will Consolidate

eBay Inc'sEBAY
PayPal picked up
Paydiant
(a white label mobile wallet platform) earlier this month. Chris Gardner, the startup's co-founder,
told Benzinga
that there's "no doubt" that more M&As are coming. "There are literally hundreds of mobile wallet providers out there today," said Gardner. "Most of them don't have enough of a market position or value prop to survive on their own. Plus, now you have three [to] five significant players fortifying their positions, making it even more difficult. I expect some to be important acquisitions, but a lot of others may just cease to exist." Disclosure:
At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.
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Posted In: TechAlbert Fried & CompanyAppleBlackberryChris GardnerPaydiantRich Tullo
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