Sharp to launch 3D smartphone sooner than expected

iPhone watch out: Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer Sharp has announced that it has in development a 3D-enabled smartphone which will launch later this year.

Of course, that someone would release a smartphone with a 3D screen was as inevitable as day following night, but what's unexpected about Sharp's announcement is that they've got it to market so soon. The device is set for an October launch and will be available globally by the end of the year, if all goes according to plan.

And you won't need those attractive 3D glasses to view the 3D effects, either.  Sharp's smartphone screen, which is believed to be the same or a similar to one which will be used in Nintendo's yet-to-be-released 3DS, will work without glasses. Doubling as a touchscreen, the screen is 'parallax barrier' based, meaning basically that it has a layer in the screen which incorporates a series of vertical slits, which do strange things to the light to create an illusion of depth without any need for horrid specs.

Additionally, Sharp announced at its press conference that the handset will also boast a camera capable of taking 3D images. Details on that are a little thin on the ground but presumably it will be based on Sharp's ' world first' 3D camera module which it unveiled in May this year.

What Nintendo thinks about Sharp beating it to market with 3D screens isn't clear, but what is clear is that Sharp - not traditionally strong in the smartphone market (or the mobile market at all, at least outside of Japan) - will be looking to ride the 3D wave towards a bigger slice of the smartphone action, luring customers away from Apple and RIM.