Motorola Aura Luxury Phone

Motorola has unveiled the AURA, a high-end luxury phone that derives inspiration from luxury watches and handcrafted design.

"AURA is Motorola's latest endeavor into the high-tier mobile device space and is the result of our continued inspiration to innovate in design, imagination and state-of-the-art handcraftsmanship," said Jim Wicks, corporate vice president and director of Consumer Experience Design, Mobile Devices, Motorola. "From the moment AURA owners hold their phones, they elevate their own experience in luxury and unmatched quality."

The other key features of AURA are:

* Its has a circular display that supports 16 million colours and a 300dpi resolution- a first in the world

* It's created from Grade-1 62-carat sapphire crystal, one of the most scratch-resistant materials on earth

* It features a stainless steel housing

* Custom-engineered rotating mechanism has 130 precision ball bearings that drive the assisted-opening blade — like opening the door on a high-end luxury car. On the 100,000th opening, the blade glides with the same fluidity and grace that it did on its first

* It features CrystalTalkTM technology, which delivers supreme clarity and deep resonance, even in noisy environments

* It is coated with PVD, which is also used in making of luxury watches.

The AURA also features a 2-megapixel camera, 2GB of user-accessible memory, a music player, stereo Bluetooth, quad-band GSM support, messaging, e-mail, a speakerphone, and an open-source browser.

The AURA is expected to be in the market in the fourth quarter of 2008. Its pricing is not out yet.