Could Motorola be ushering in a new era of cellular phones sporting 3D capabilities much sooner than expected? Our friend Carl over at AndroidForums was quick to point out some striking similarities between the latest images of Motorola’s new MT820 and a recent patent filing for three-dimensional display technology.

Lets take a look at the recent images of that new Motorola flip-phone:

And compare that with this recent patent filing from Motorola for 3D-enabled cell phones:

The patent is for a device that will display a standard 2D image on its screen with the cover open, but when the translucent flip-top is down, it will convert those images to 3D. If you take a close look at the pics of Motorola’s MT820, the top half is a transparent plastic, rather than an additional screen. Could it be a specially-coated image filter?

I still question the use of 3D beyond being a gimmick movies can employ now and then, but it seems Hollywood, the gaming industry, and electronics manufacturers are really getting behind the 3D movement with a huge push of 3D products. Nearly every big budget movie getting a release this summer will have a 3D counterpart, Nintendo will be releasing a 3D Nintendo DS, and 3D televisions are coming to the market quickly. It may just be a fad that will fizzle out as quickly as it started, but perhaps 3D is here to stay.

Take this as a big old heap of speculation with a side of rumor, but the image in the patent filing matches up a little too closely for this to not deserve some sort of attention. If Motorola drops a 3D phone this soon, it will be one well-kept secret. Could it be a possibility, or is the latest Moto Android merely borrowing the form factor of a planned 3D device, minus the 3D?