Last week’s report that HTC is working on a sports action camera to compete with GoPro was a bit of a surprise, but we were even more shocked today when we took a look at new images posted by @upleaks. The leaked images don’t show off any of HTC’s upcoming phones, but rather a handful of personal medical devices – a new category for HTC. The six images below show four different devices: Tricorder blood system, Tricorder urine system, Tricorder scope system and the Tricorder breath system.
Two of the images show how the Tricorder scope system and Tricorder breath system in action. Specifications and connectivity details are now available, but the images show the devices operating independently, with analysis viewed wirelessly on an HTC smartphone. The Tricorder naming convention is fit since the use cases in the pictures remind us of the tricoder medical scanner from Star Trek. Over the past few years there have been plenty of companies entering the smartphone-connected medical devices space. Companies like Cellscope make an iPhone accessory similar to the Tricorder scope system, but HTC would be the first major manufacturer to jump into the space.
It’s no secret that HTC needs to find other sources of income since the company has had a tough time competing in the smartphone space over the last few years. An action sports camera to compete with GoPro isn’t too far off from the company’s roots, but we never would have pegged HTC to enter the personal medical devices market. Since there are few large brands playing in this space, HTC may be able to carve out a large share of the market and boost its bottom line. For now, we’re still labeling this as a rumor, but that may change and HTC’s new focus becomes clearer over the next few months.
#HTC pic.twitter.com/r5yYMfDufY
— @upleaks (@upleaks) September 14, 2014
#HTC Breath Sense pic.twitter.com/brgBfiY6l2
— @upleaks (@upleaks) September 14, 2014
#HTC tricorder devices pic.twitter.com/4vH5YFIPPR
— @upleaks (@upleaks) September 14, 2014
i feel ive always liked htc because they had an expertise in the mobile landscape, seems that will change.
No smartphone has a fish eye lens like the GoPro. That lens on the go pro is something special. People who does extreme sports get it
I’m starting to think that all those leaks are supposed to throw us of until the event.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see another leak about an entirely different device.