Amazon could be entering the mobile wars with 3D smartphone

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN ) could release a 3D smartphone later this year, according to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal. The device will reportedly display stereoscopic 3D images that can be viewed without 3D glasses. The report also states that Amazon has placed an initial order of 600,000 units from one of its suppliers.

Reports about the Amazon phone have floated around since last year, but the Journal now claims that the device is scheduled to arrive in the second half of 2014, and that a prototype has already been shown to app developers.

Challenging tech titans Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) and Samsung (NASDAQOTH: SSNLF ) -- which respectively control 41% and 27% of the U.S. smartphone market -- is certainly a daunting task. Some critics might think that an Amazon Phone is a doomed effort, but I firmly believe that it could actually be a game-changer in terms of e-commerce, mobile gaming, and the overall smartphone market.

To understand the impact of a stereoscopic 3D screen, simply play a game on a Nintendo (NASDAQOTH: NTDOY ) 3DS. Imagine if that technology, which allows gamers to see a 3D world through a holographic "virtual window," were used to display physical products in a digital showroom. Combine that with eye-tracking, rotation, and pinch-and-zoom technology, and you could virtually "hold" a projected product in the palm of your hand.