HTC may have shelved plans for its smartwatch but the company is still looking to diversify its portfolio. According to a Bloomberg reporter the company might unveil a digital camera, supposedly aimed at competing with GoPro.

EXCLUSIVE: HTC planning rugged camera that connects direct to phone: wide angle lens, BT, 16mp sensor. Can they compete w/@GoPro ? — Tim Culpan (@tculpan) September 12, 2014

Tim Culpan of Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources, is saying that HTC is planning to release a rugged camera, featuring a wide-angle lens and a 16-megapixel sensor. The whole device is rumored to be "tube-shaped", and also be waterproof.

The camera would supposedly connect to a smartphone via Bluetooth and Wi-fi and might be marketed as an accessory instead of a stand-alone product with HTC's own apps being developed to support the device.

What’s interesting here is that HTC may actually want to compete with the market leader for this category, GoPro. The folks at GoPro have seen massive success thanks to their high-quality, rugged and easy to transport products, and HTC might want a piece of this pie.

We know the Taiwanese company is not exactly shy when it comes to trying new things, and their recent focus on photography seems to go hand in hand with this rumor. To top it all off the company is holding an event on October 8th which they’re calling “Double Exposure”, an obvious nod towards photography and optics.

We’ll know soon enough whether this product is coming to market and what HTC is planning for the future.

Source: Bloomberg