I’m all for technology advancements–a new OS, a slicker smartphone, Tang, whatever. Now Acer’s making an odd-but-interesting bet with its new Aspire 5738DG laptop: a 3D display. Yep, the future is now–watch out for flying DeLoreans!

Before I crack any more jokes, let me explain what goes into Acer’s 3D technology. Ray Sawall, senior manager of product marketing for Acer America, took a few minutes to break it down for me. Forget fancy proprietary names (TriDef 3D screen!), what’s at work here are polarized plastic shades, a 60-Hz polarized display, and software working in tandem to trick the image into seeming three-dimensional.

With 3D movies (like, say, Monsters vs. Aliens), it works. It also does the best it can to represent 2D images in 3D. I haven’t had a chance to test it just yet, but the spokespeople say I need to check out The Lord of the Rings–and I will soon, since I expect to see a review unit any day now.
3D: Must-Have Tech, or Gimmick?

Obviously, the big deal here is what this could mean to gamers. I should know; I’m a card-carrying member. The video game crowd’s been chasing that 3D dragon for ages, with some of the best results coming from real-time strategy titles like Command & Conquer 3. Most recently, Resident Evil 5 is a great example of what 3D can do to make the action jump off the screen.

Or maybe Excel spreadsheets will come alive as you get lost in cells–exciting, I know.

Is 3D too much of a niche gimmick? I’m inclined to think so. 3D seems to be the new rationale to sell movie theater tickets, special-edition Blu-ray discs, and apparently PC hardware.

Even Acer’s Sawall seems to agree: “My gut is that [touch-screen technology] has more traction than 3D. Honestly, I’m not sure if there’s a home for 3D in mobile.”

Still, Sawall says the Aspire 5738DG’s been better received by retailers than expected.
Decent Specs for a Good Price

The Aspire 5738DG, available later this week with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edition, packs decent hardware for the $780 asking price: an Intel Core 2 Duo processor T6600, an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 GPU, 4GB of RAM, and a 320GB 5400-rpm hard drive. Stay tuned and I’ll give you the skinny on how well this machine works when I get my hands on it.

What are your thoughts? Substance, style–or something in-between? Hit the Comment box below or send e-mail to PC World with “ATTN: Laptops (3D? I can barely handle two dimensions)” in the subject line.

Need even more nerdity? Follow PC World Senior Writer Darren Gladstone on Twitter (gizmogladstone) for oddball links, 140-character game reviews, and whatever else comes to mind.

“3D is clearly on its way to the mass market,” said Sony CEO Howard Stringer during a news conference. He cited movies, sports and computer games as areas the technology is expected to have its biggest impact.

The TV, which will be part of its Bravia LCD range, will launch sometime during 2010 and require users to wear special glasses to get the 3D effect. The glasses have filters in them that switch on and off at high speed matched to the image coming from the TV set so each eye sees a slightly different image.

In addition to the set, Sony said it would add 3D compatibility to other electronics products including Vaio laptops, the PlayStation 3 games console and Blu-ray Disc players. Earlier in the day the Blu-ray Disc Association said it would add 3D support to the format thus helping to create a common standard for content on video discs.

The technology to make and show 3D movies and television programs has been around for decades but has repeatedly failed to take off. In recent years the movie industry has looked to 3D as a way to get people back into movie theaters and the number of screens capable of showing 3D movies has increased. There are expected to be 7,000 3D screens at the end of the year, according to data presented by Sony.

But despite the growing number of screens, the amount of 3D content is still relatively small.

Stringer emphasized Sony’s broad reach into all areas of the content business as an advantage for the company. Through its many divisions it owns both movie studios and television stations and produces hardware from the cameras used to make movies to the projectors and televisions used to show the content.

Pulling all of this together to create a chain of 3D content will be a key test of Stringer’s reforms at Sony. When he took over as CEO in 2005 he found a dysfunctional company where business units would rather set their own course than work together.

Stringer has worked to break down internal barriers but despite several rounds of restructuring and layoffs, the company continues to report poor results. In its most recent quarter, the key electronics division reported record losses. A management reshuffle earlier this year saw executives close to Stringer installed on the company’s board increasing his power but the effects are yet to be seen.