3-D

Hoping to come back from a disappointing summer, Disney is re-releasing its early-nineties classic The Lion King in 3-D on Friday. But the 3-D format itself is struggling after several underperforming titles. Read on to find out which of the two leading 3-D companies, RealD or IMAX, remains the better investment bet.

It sometimes seems like everything that's fun is also a potential threat to your health, so it's hardly surprising that 3-D movies, games and TVs have drawn fire from critics who worry that they could cause long-term eye damage. But eye care professionals say that the reverse may be true.

In Asia Thursday Japan's Nikkei 225 Index fell 1.1% as exporters fight the effects of a surging yen. In China the Shanghai Composite Index inched up 0.3% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.1%.

At least one analyst is predicting that fourth-quarter box-office sales are set to fall 12% as most 3-D movies have failed to attract big audiences this year. Even worse: The trend extends beyond movie theaters to the living room.

Hasbro plans to unveil a new device Tuesday that will make Apple iPods and iPhones 3-D capable. The device, called My3D, looks like a pair of binoculars and enables users to view movies and games in 3-D. Apple plans to sell My3D content at its online apps store.

Sales of 3-D televisions aren't growing as quickly as TV makers had expected this year, according to new DisplaySearch report. The research firm now expects 3.2 million 3-D TVs to be shipped this year, down from the 3.4 million it had forecast in July.

Toshiba (TOSBF) unveiled a new 3-D TV that viewers can watch without wearing special glasses. The 3-D liquid crystal display TV uses a high-definition screen backlit with LEDs, a special sheet on the screen and chip technology to display information from nine images, The New York Times reported....

Nintendo slashed its forecast for the year, citing weak sales and stronger-than-expected appreciation of the Japanese yen. It also announced its new handheld 3-D video game console won't be released until after the holiday season.

The Nintendo Wii's dominance over motion-control gaming eroded further this weekend as Microsoft and Sony highlighted their own new controllers at Japan's largest video-game industry event. Plus, Sony updated PS3 to play 3-D Blu-ray movies.

Here's news from the business world and other money matters to watch out for Thursday (last updated at 7:38 a.m. Eastern time): GM Earnings Top Expectations: General Motors reported net earnings of $1.3 billion in the second quarter on revenue of $33.2 billion. On a per-share basis, the Detroit...