Galaxy S4 Zoom: Samsung’s First Camera Phone Rumored With 16 Megapixel Sensor; Could Be Released In June Or July

South Korean tech giant Samsung seems to be quite obsessed with the name “Galaxy S4.”

There have been a lot of rumors that the company will release a smaller version of the handset named the Galaxy S4 Mini. Some reports even have suggested that a waterproof and dust-proof version of the flagship device could also be launched.

Now, if a new report from SamMobile is to be believed, Samsung is likely preparing to release a camera phone with the same Galaxy S4 moniker. The report says that Samsung’s first camera phone will be named the “Galaxy S4 Zoom” and will feature a 16-megapixel camera.

“The camera on the standard Galaxy S4, while perhaps still no match for the PureView of the Nokia Lumia 920, more than holds its own; but there is room for improvement, and it looks as though Samsung wishes to bring these improvements sooner as opposed to later,” a Redmond Pie report said.

In addition to the 16-megapixel camera, the "Galaxy S4 Zoom" is also rumored to come with a pretty impressive set of specs including a 4.3-inch qHD Super AMOLED display, 8GB of internal storage capacity, Micro SD card support up to 64GB, and the Android Jelly Bean operating system with Samsung’s own Touch Wiz Nature UX interface, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/ b/ g/ n and A-GPS.

Codenamed SM-C101, the "Galaxy S4 Zoom" is expected to hit the market in either June or July in two colors –- black and white. The device could be powered by a dual-core or quad-core processor, while the amount of RAM the device will have is still unknown. The leak also has not provided any details on the amount of zoom the Galaxy S4 Zoom will have.

The Samsung Galaxy Camera, announced in August 2012, comes with a 16.3-megapixel sensor (4608×3456 pixels) and 21x optical zoom. Considering that smartphones generally offer only digital zoom, adding optical zoom capability to the "Galaxy S4 Zoom" could be the unique selling point of the device.

“We’ve seen an increased focus on the smartphone as a camera, and while the iPhone 5, HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 are pushing mobile photography forward, devices that can replace a high-end point-and-shoot with optical zoom are few and far between,” a GottaBeMobile report said.