Motorola announces the $1,999 Aura high-end mobile phone

Wed Oct 22, 2008 5:07PM EDT

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Motorola, still searching for its next RAZR-sized hit, announces the Aura, a new luxury mobile phone geared specifically for those with high-end tastes and even higher-end salaries.

Set for a December 4 release, the Aura, which carries a hefty $1,999, resurrects the sexy swivel design from Motorola's classic v70 and v80 handsets and combines it with a Rolex-like manufacturing process.

So, what exactly does two grand get you? A 16 million color, fully-circular LCD display (first ever in a cell phone, according to Motorola), a 62 Carat lens crafted out of sapphire for scratch resistance, a stainless steel exterior with etched designs that takes two weeks to fabricate, a Swiss-manufactured bearing for the swivel, 700+ individual components, PVD coating (similar to high-end watches), and an all aluminum keypad. 

As for the tech specs, its not bad, but not anything special, either: Quad-band GSM/EDGE (No 3G), 2-megapixel camera, MPEG-4 video playback, MP3 and WMA decoding, Stereo Bluetooth, 2GB of internal storage, and an 810mAh battery.

There's no doubt about it: The Aura looks slick, sexy, and expensive, but the short tech features combined with the high price makes this a fit for only those waiting for their private jets to be refueled.

Aura by Motorola

 

 

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  • 6 Posted by dogfly6 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:46PM EDT Report Abuse

    This thing isn't even that good. For a luxury item, it's pretty weak. At least when you buy a Mercedes you get something that looks good AND out performs other cars

  • 7 Posted by mauricelimoen on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:12PM EDT Report Abuse

    For $ 2000 I would have expected something more special, this is just eye candy for insecure people with bad taste and a bad spending habit.

  • 8 Posted by lovenlifeinks on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:57PM EDT Report Abuse

    I think it is pretty, but I do like saphire HOWEVER I would NEVER!!!!!!!! pay that kind of money for ANY stupid phone, especially concidering it has little options even compared to my $250 phone!

  • 9 Posted by doug2060 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:47PM EDT Report Abuse

    With the success of the RAZR fading away into a distant memory Motorola has lost their minds with greed! That thing is so ugly my grandmother would think it's stylish. Perhaps I'll get her one to match her bedazzled sweat shirts. It seems they are grasping at straws to stay on top. I predict a big flop here. I don't care how they make it or what they make it from. If you're going to waste that much time and resources on on a phone at least make sure it doesn't look like something from the everything's a dollar store. They ruined the razor now their digging a bigger hole... Perhaps they will make it in mahogany too...

  • 10 Posted by lilthisnthat2003 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:52PM EDT Report Abuse

    Me, personally, I like it. Its different, sleek and will fit in my stocking!

  • 11 Posted by fireplan_ny on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:00PM EDT Report Abuse

    I wouldn't say that it's necessarily "ugly"...rather UNIQUE. It's designed to stand out for the buyer..."Hey look at me! I spent $2K on a cell phone!"...you know? I think that they should've gone the extra mile and made the thing gold-plated. Not only would that have accented the ruby faceplate, but it would've also turned it into the piece of jewelry that it is inteded to be.

  • 12 Posted by vicprobey on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:34PM EDT Report Abuse

    I wouldn't pay more than 39.99 for this piece of garbage.

  • 13 Posted by apeanutbuta on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:56PM EDT Report Abuse

    wow i wonder what abilities it has, nice and slick.

  • 14 Posted by randrytt on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:29PM EDT Report Abuse

    For two grand I want a G1 that curves back and I can strap it to my wrist there Buck Rodger.

  • 15 Posted by avatarac on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:59PM EDT Report Abuse

    i dont understand where you all get that this is a ugly phone...sure the PRICE is Hideous, but it looks alot better then all these phone i've seen out today.

  • 16 Posted by jonpgonzales on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:40PM EDT Report Abuse

    it's ugly. and the only people who will own it are the ones who want to brag about how much they paid for it. and that's what Motorola is banking on.

  • 17 Posted by plug18360 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:14PM EDT Report Abuse

    Typical, make a phone with few features but dress it up and market it to the wealthy. why not, they're the only ones who can afford to waste money on frivolous gadgets. Can't wait to see all the brokers sporting them next year.

  • 18 Posted by beverly.dietz on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:06PM EDT Report Abuse

    technically, it is a piece of high end jewelry, the technology is no better than a 300 dollar phone, so basically im buying pretty

  • 19 Posted by riimzan on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:42PM EDT Report Abuse

    superb.! RIMZAN / BERUWALA / SRI LANKA.

  • 20 Posted by piemman on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:11PM EDT Report Abuse

    get this ugly piece of ----- out of here

  • 21 Posted by vasya_35 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:32PM EDT Report Abuse

    my thought....you go all out to make the thing "sexy" and slap a massive sticker price on it, but you don't bother to load it up with every feature known to man???? Why? I can get a less elegant, better looking (IMO) phone, with WAY more features for a fraction of the cost. Bad timing with the economy too. Oops.

  • 22 Posted by sapphire_dreams83 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:04PM EDT Report Abuse

    With the economy as bad as it is, is now really the time to be introducing a $2000 cell phone? Especially one that is so ugly, and it's not even a touch screen (from what I can tell anyways). I think this is a huge mistake on Motorola's part, and I bet this phone will flop.

  • 23 Posted by snoopyo6i on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:30PM EDT Report Abuse

    i wud rather buy an itouch. its features is so ordinary, nothing new

  • 24 Posted by nancy.nitrate on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:33PM EDT Report Abuse

    That's ugly as heck It looks like a tacky bathroom scale.

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