Motorola Aura hits home

Motorola's rival to the Samsung opulent Serenata has been announced by the manufacturer. The Aura is the first circular-display mobile phone looks set with a release date stated as Q4 2008

Published on Oct 23, 2008

Motorola has launched the Aura, apparently inspired by luxury watches and the opulence of classic design.

The handset is crafted from more than 700 individual components and is housed within a polished stainless steel case. Motorola claims that to create this front piece alone it takes two weeks, during which it is hand polished, chemically etched and PVD coated - a process that is more akin to luxury watch production than that of mobile phones.

The handset features a round (yes, you heard us right, circular!), 16m colour display topped with a 62-carat Sapphire crystal lens, a protective feature that will undoubtedly add to the overall price tag.

Motorola's CrystalTalk technology is also included to aid call clarity, along with Bluetooth 2.0, a 2-megapixel camera and an MP3 player.

Make no mistake - this is no smart-phone, with a relatively unsophisticated featureset that lacks 3G, Wi-Fi and GPS it really seems to be looks centric.

A UK specific release date and pricing are yet to be announced.