The Financial Times reports that GoPro shares fell by 12% on Tuesday, following the news that Apple was granted a patent for an action camera.
The patent, which is readable here, describes a digital camera system which includes a wireless connection system and the capacity to be operated remotely.
The patent directly mentions the GoPro HD Hero2, in reference to wearable rugged cameras that can be mounted to objects ‘such as a bike helmet or scuba mask, or […] the handlebars of a motorcycle or the front of a surfboard.’
The patent also mentions an underwater microphone, referred to as a ‘hydrophone’, which would be capable of recording underwater sounds.
The action camera market has seen several new arrivals from major manufacturers in the past year, including the RE from HTC, and the 4K-equipped Sony FDR-X1000VR which was announced at CES.
However, it would be best not to get too excited just yet. Apple has not commented on the possibility any plans to release an action camera, and the firm files for many patents every year, many of which never progress any further.
The Guardian also observes that the patent actually was originally filed by Kodak in 2012, and came under Apple’s control as part of several patents bought by Apple, Google and other companies for $525m.
