Apple Camera Patent Takes Aim At GoPro

Apple was granted another design patent by the U.S. Patent office recently which directly addresses a digital video camera which could outperform the current GoPro Hero range of wearable, protected from the elements, camera line.

Apple has so far not discussed its plans for the awarded patent which was first filed back in 2012. The design itself refers to a remote controlled digital camera that is intended to be attached to head gear like a protective helmet, a scuba mask for underwater video capture or even a surfboard.

The main differences in the design choices were the addition of new ways to attach the design while remaining more flush to the attached surface, plus the greater number of sensors and lenses to provide a wider visual experience for the viewer later.

GoPro Stock Takes a Nose Dive

Following news leaking about the patent award, the GoPro stock price took a tumble down 12 percent from a recent high so certainly active investors in the stock were concerned enough to liquidate part of their technology holdings.

Apple Critical Of GoPro Design In Patent Filing

Apple took aim at what it saw as some of the deficiencies of the GoPro line back in 2012 when the filing was entered at the Patent office. Special mention was made of the mounting options with the GoPro line at the time which it felt cause create “excessive wind resistance”. Attention was also drawn to the size of the GoPro camera setup which also would catch more wind than necessary.

Designs Within The Patent

The Apple design mock up was intended to run either as a standalone device or as a remote control module. With the latter, the device could be mounted and then controled by the user using another device when the camera was not easy to access (attached to a helmet above your head, for instance).

Control Via Smart Watch

There is also mention of a watch-type device which could be used for remote operations which ultimately could be some kind of wearable device like the forthcoming Apple Watch.

Going Into The Blue

An underwater microphone in addition to a non-submergable microphone was also included in the design suggestions by Apple for underwater recording; clearly someone at Apple has been watching Blue Planet.

Will Apple Develop It

It will be interesting to see whether Apple tries to enter the wearable camera market like it is about to with its Apple Watch. Certainly the GoPro wearable camera success story is an attractive one and ripe for Apple treatment.