10/21/2008, 10:30am, EDT
Tuesday, October 21stMoto intros AURA phone with circular display
Motorola today broke some ground in cellphones today by revealing the AURA, the world's first handset with a full color circular LCD. While small at just under 1.6 inches, the display has a unique, 480-pixel diameter resolution that produces an extremely high 300 dots per inch density and also makes the phone's swivel design possible; unlike a slider or some other swivel phones, the display can stay in a fixed position while the outer cover rotates to reveal the number pad. It generates 16 million colors and so has a photo print-like quality, Motorola adds.
Billed as a luxury phone, the AURA is also made of relatively high-grade materials that include a 62-carat sapphire lens that protects the two-megapixel camera from scratches, a stainless steel body with precision ball bearings, and an aluminum keypad. Actual hardware features are relatively modest, however, and include 2GB of built-in memory as the only storage option, a media player app, stereo Bluetooth and EDGE data.
Motorola plans to ship the AURA internationally during the fall, but hasn't named carriers; an unlocked version will be available in the US on December 4th for $2,000. It supports North American frequencies and so should work with AT&T, T-Mobile and Rogers.
Filed under: mobile phones
Other story tags: AT&T, T-Mobile, Motorola, Rogers
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Wow! $2,000...
I sure as hell hope it makes decent phone calls. Why something like this is needed I'll never know. No wonder Motorola is doomed to failure. Where do they get these ideas from. It'll never sell in quantity. If Macs are considered overpriced, then this thing is outrageously overpriced. I agree it's a novel design, but hardly worth $2,000.
We have one
Well, sort of... my daughter got a toy cell phone from the dollar store that has the exact same swivel-to-open design.
Boutique
would be an understatement if the price is being reported correctly.
Form over function!
Being different without being sensible defeats the purpose of design. We live in a world of 'length x breadth' [rectangular] displays because it's optimized for text, images, video etc. how does one view all of this information on a circular screen. My opinion is that while this may appear fancy at first glance, it's not going to be efficient for data display.
Great Timing...
With the current economic situation, I think USD2,000.00 for a well-polished phone and quality parts with CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGY like - 2.0MP camera, EDGE DATA (NO 3G HERE) and NO GPS is just about right for an asking price. :(
remember the v70?
http://img.alibaba.com/photo/11300026/Motorola_V70.jpg
this is just a rehash - or update, depending on your view -- of an earlier phone with the exact same form factor . . . though, this one seems to have quite a bit more functionality and utility than the model off of which it is based.
The v70 was actually a pretty popular (and expensive) fashion phone when it was first released. Let's see if Moto can build off of that now.
Nice Simple Phone
Well, price aside, it's a sharp looking phone. Sure it's not a smart phone, but taken for what it is, I like the design. And they will sell at $2K, for people that light bills instead of matches. Doesn't some company customize a gem encrusted and gold plated iPod? Same market.