Why History Is Against Amazon's 3D Phone

By Pete Pachal

The history of 3D technology in mobile devices is mercifully short. While 3D imagery has found limited success on larger screens (thank you, Avatar), smartphones and tablet displays have been almost universally restricted to two dimensions.

That's why it's extremely odd that Amazon is apparently taking its own stab at mobile 3D with the unveiling of its smartphone on Wednesday. Reports — as well Amazon's own teaser for the event — strongly suggest a 3D smartphone is coming. While the success of the Nintendo 3DSshows 3D gadgets can sometimes succeed, the consensus around that device is that it did welldespite its 3D tech, not because of it.

Although the technology to produce a "parallax" effect on a screen has been around for more than a decade, it experienced a golden age right when Hollywood went 3D back in 2009-2011. When Avatar became the top-grossing movie of all time, manufacturers tripped over themselves to offer 3D TVs, and a few even though 3D smartphones were a good idea.

HTC, for one. The HTC Evo 3D debuted globally on June 24, 2011. Its 3D screen was complemented by the twin cameras in back, which could be used in unison to take 3D photos. Owners could view those photos on the Evo's display without glasses or export them to more conventional (i.e. glasses-required) 3D displays.

The Evo 3D received so-so reviews, with users impressed with the 3D abilities but disappointed with its other abilities, such as call quality. Also, its 3D display did nothing for the interface or the vast majority of Android apps. When Virgin Mobile re-launched the phone for its network, it even dropped "3D" from the name.

Little wonder, then, that there was only one other 3D smartphone with a global launch: the LG Optimus 3D. Called the LG Thrill 4G in the US, the phone barely made a whimper in North America, and since its screen was lower-res than the Evo's, the 3D effect wasn't as good.

Nintendo shows the way

Pre-dating both of those phones, the Nintendo 3DS has, so far, been the only 3D handheld device with any real success. Nintendo announced it in March 2010 and unveiled it at the E3 gaming expo that year. It didn't actually go on sale until March 2011, but as the official successor to the Nintendo DS, there was a lot of anticipation.

The 3DS received many favorable reviews, but some users saw the 3D tech (which was built into only one of the two screens) as an "afterthought." Sales weren't so great out of the gate, but after a price cut they hit stride, and with more than 43 million in sales to date, the Nintendo 3DS is in the Top 5 of the best-selling handheld consoles in history.

Tellingly, though, Nintendo eventually debuted an entry-level version of the 3DS without the 3D screen, called the 2DS. While the 3DS continues to sell well, the existence of the 2DS reveals how essential Nintendo believes the 3D effect is to the mobile gaming experience (I.e. not very).

Capturing double

Besides the 3D display, the Amazon phone is rumored to also have multiple cameras that can work in unison to produce a 3D image. This makes sense — after all, if you have a 3D screen you're going to want content for it — but the camera could end up being an important feature to a certain customer.

While there's so far been little demand for 3D displays in mobile, there is a small but growing desire for good 3D imaging. A company called Occipital launched a lucrative Kickstarter campaign in 2013 around a 3D imaging device for iPad, which could do things like give you detailed measurements of a room as you photograph it.

3D imaging could turn the screen of an Amazon phone into a virtual showroom. Some have speculated users could capture images of their living room and try out different kinds of furniture in a virtual rendering.

The 3D cameras on phones like the HTC Evo 3D and LG Optimus 3D paved the way for 3D imaging in mobile. More recently, the HTC One M8 introduced an improved way to capture photos with its Duo camera. While not explicitly a 3D camera, the secondary image sensor captures depth information, allowing the user to modify their photos after the fact in numerous ways — one of them being the addition of a 3D parallax effect.

Will Amazon's mystery phone be the device that finally takes 3D displays mainstream? Perhaps, but if history is any indication, its appeal will have more to do with whatever service or content the 3D images tie into than those images themselves.