Motorola intros avant-garde $2,000 AURA, markets it like a Rolex

by Darren Murph, posted Oct 21st 2008 at 11:07AM

We can't remember the last time we purchased a phone because it possessed 700+ individual components, a stainless steel housing or a front plate that takes a fortnight to create, but Motorola's hoping you start to care about that kind of minutiae right about now. The admittedly gorgeous AURA (previously coined V70) is the world's first handset with a 16-million color circular display, and aside from making / receiving calls with the utmost clarity, it also boasts a Swiss-made main bearing, 62-carat sapphire crystal lens, a 2-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, microUSB port, quad-band GSM connectivity, a microSD card slot, multimedia player and up to 7.3-hours of talk time (400-hours in standby). The 4.97-ounce handset is available exclusively from the MOTO STORE for $1,999.99, with pre-orders shipping out beginning December 4th. Who's in?

[Thanks, Paulo and Jake]

Read - Dedicated AURA website
Read - Motorola AURA press release

Gallery: Motorola intros avant-garde $2,000 AURA, markets it like a Rolex

Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, GSM, EDGE

Tags: Artistry, AURA, crystal, CrystalTalk, high-end, luxury, moto, motorola, V70

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Highest Ranked

Charles Knight @ Oct 21st 2008 11:43AM

A 2mp camera?

Highest Ranked

Michael Pasquini @ Nov 11th 2008 4:26PM

yes, $1,000.00 per megapixel.

Highest Ranked

Riley Freeman @ Oct 21st 2008 12:18PM

very sexy

Highest Ranked

DL @ Oct 21st 2008 12:29PM

nice display......nice keypad..

Neutral

James C @ Oct 21st 2008 1:13PM

What the hell is wrong with motorola? Why would they waste money on developing a phone like this? Why are they trying to Vertu it up in the ultra-premium market when their standard consumer lineup is crashing and burning?

Sheesh, you wanna root for the underdog sometimes Moto, but I honestly can't feel sorry for you when you clearly want to fail.

Neutral

Eric @ Oct 21st 2008 1:13PM

yeah... that will get their market share back.

Highest Ranked

Fernando @ Oct 21st 2008 2:07PM

Review: http://www.mobile-review.com/review/motorola-motoaura.shtml

I want one, not quite $2000 want, but still

Highest Ranked

Infinity @ Oct 21st 2008 2:47PM

http://www.mobile-review.com/review/motorola-motoaura-en.shtml - eng review

Neutral

Nippero @ Oct 21st 2008 4:34PM

I like how you can see "DO NO PHOTOGRAPH" all over the phone's sides in the pictures.

Neutral

arparp @ Oct 21st 2008 2:49PM

Oops, did someone not tell Motorola that conspicuous consumption is on the way out and stealth wealth is in??

Neutral

Caldenni @ Oct 21st 2008 3:30PM

Even though I like the design (It's very sexy, and the rotary system is awesome), I won't spend my US$ 2000 (If I have that amount of money to spend) for this. Especially when I only get a two megapixel camera with it. If they sell it without any of those bling2 things, I might get myself one...
http://www.gadgetwidgets.com/

Lowest Ranked

BenP @ Oct 21st 2008 4:21PM

Either way, it's still a Motorola.

Neutral

Nathan @ Oct 21st 2008 5:01PM

Good idea. Launch your premium brand based on a product that never sold well in the first place! Maybe Ford should launch a 5 million dollar car based on the Edsel model or maybe Chrysler should make their premium cars based on the K-series.

Neutral

Richard @ Oct 21st 2008 11:54PM

Is it April First?

Low Ranked

maneton @ Oct 22nd 2008 11:25AM

I say iPhone.

Highest Ranked

Shadow08 @ Oct 23rd 2008 2:28PM

I must say, between this and the Krave, I am beginning to like Motorola again. Hopefully this is a sign for the better, because in the past, they had some pretty awesome phones.

Neutral

Ivan @ Oct 25th 2008 6:20PM

Well i don't care much about the brand Motorola, but i like the phone a lot. First steampunk phone available only drawback is price :(

Neutral

R @ Oct 27th 2008 2:30PM

I believe it has the linux OS

Neutral

Max @ Oct 28th 2008 1:27PM

This thing is beautiful - the OS looks great too. I wouldn't ever pay 2000 for a phone - even one this cool - but if this was in my price range, I'd make this my next phone for sure.

And who needs more than 2mp on a phone? Silly thing to complain about - it's not like the price difference between a 2mp sensor and a 5 or 8 would warrant 2000 bucks. It's the design... which is very slick.

Neutral

egloskerry @ Oct 30th 2008 3:43AM

No HSPA? Are you kidding me? So I can buy this and hope it takes my mind off how bad my stocks are doing, because I can't check them!

Neutral

Kartik @ Nov 3rd 2008 1:15PM

I don't get it. Rolex watches look amazing, its not just the price that makes them such a prestigious item.

The keyboard on this look likes the one on the the RAZR. this phone is far less fashionable, not to mention less functional, than the iPhone, Sony XPERIA X1, and the HTC Quartz.

Neutral

Davan @ Nov 5th 2008 7:57PM

starts shipping december 4th? saw a girl at school today with this phone. looks exactly like it.

Neutral

ubn2 @ Nov 19th 2008 6:08PM

what school do you go to? either she has connections a moto or you live in dubei.

Neutral

superhobo @ Nov 14th 2008 6:14AM

How has Motorola survived making increasingly ugly phones all these years? (With ever uglier OSes)

Highest Ranked

thunderror @ Nov 20th 2008 2:24PM

Yeah I wish they would spend the money improving the software as well...

Neutral

Chris @ Nov 24th 2008 1:05PM

You keep a rolex for years, sending it back to be serviced. How long does your typical phone last? New every two, anyone? I'd be amazed if they sell more than 10 of these devices. I hope that VZW picks this one up. It would be the perfect marriage between two co's completely out of touch with consumers (of course, VZW would take so long to approve and launch this phone that a $2K phone might be in style again and it'll be sufficiently out of date tech wise that they won't have to bother gimping it further).

Neutral