Lately, rumors have swirled around in the technology world that Samsung is working on a camera-centric Galaxy S4 variant called the Galaxy S4 Zoom, with 10x optical zoom on its 16-megapixel camera, though it’s not certain whether it’s a phone or a successor to the Galaxy Camera. However, we now have the first picture taken by the S4 Zoom thanks to a Samsung employee on Picasa, and the picture’s EXIF data paints an interesting picture.

The picture has been taken with a device carrying model name SM-C101, which sounds more like a dedicated camera’s model number than Samsung’s smartphones, though it was certified as a Samsung mobile phone by the Bluetooth SIG. The certification only mentions that it can make calls though, so exactly what kind of device we’re looking at is a toss-up at this point.

Coming to the technical aspects of the photo, the EXIF data shows the photo has been taken at 24mm focal length and has a sensor size equivalent to 1/2.5″, indicating rather wide viewing angles and a large sensor, which are usually aspects of dedicated cameras. The aperture also seems variable, as the max aperture is listed as F2.97 while the photo has been shot at F8.8, so phone or camera, we are looking at a technically sound camera module.

However, despite the model number and technical specs pointing at a dedicated camera, the Galaxy S4 Zoom could very well be a smartphone like Nokia’s 808 PureView, which uses a large sensor and other hi-tech gadgetry on a regular-sized 4-inch phone. The picture has been edited by the Snapseed app, so at least we know the device is running on Android, and hopefully the rumored June announcement will come to pass and let us know other details as well.

Any guesses on what the Galaxy S4 Zoom could be? Awesome camera with phone capability or phone with awesome camera?

Via: Sammobile, GSMArena | Source: Google Picasa