Motorola Aura

The Motorola Aura (styled AURA) is a series of luxury mobile phones from Motorola, which is part of the 4LTR line. This series was announced in October 2008 and was made available for purchase by December of that year. Though initially planned as a series, only one model, the Aura R1, was released. In 2009, three special editions of the Aura R1 followed: the Aura Diamond Edition, Aura Celestial Edition, and another Aura Diamond Edition. Marketed as a luxury device, the Aura had a price tag of US$2000 and featured premium materials, including stainless steel and sapphire, packaged in an elegant wooden box.

The AURA phone features a circular display with a high resolution of 300dpi. The user interface is specifically designed for this circular display, using the MotoMagx operating system from Motorola. One of the device's unique features is its swivel-like opening mechanism. This mechanism uses Swiss-made gears, made of Rockwell 50-55 hardened steel, and 130 precision ball bearings.

R1

Motorola Aura R1

Manufacturer	Motorola
Compatible networks	2G only, GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
Availability by region	December 2008
Related	Motorola V70
Form factor	Swivel
Dimensions	96.9 x 47.6 x 18.6 mm
Weight	141 g
Memory	2 GB internal memory, no Memory card slot
Battery	Li-Ion 810 mAh, Talk time capacity: Up to 7 h 20 min.
Display	circular TFT screen, 16 million colors, 480px in diameter
Rear camera	2 megapixel camera (1600×1200 pixels) with video
Connectivity	Bluetooth 2.0, USB
Other	Stainless steel housing, Assisted opening blade mechanism with Carbon-carbide coated gears, voice memo, chemically engraved textures.

Close-up of swivel mechanism gears, visible through the clear back window.

The R1 was announced in October 2008 and put in production in December 2008. The launch price was approximately €1,420 (UK£1,200, over $2000) due to its premium materials and packaging. The phone featured GSM technology, 2GB of internal memory, and a user interface optimized for its circular display, which was a 1.55" screen with a high resolution of 300dpi.

Two Aura special editions were announced at Mobile World Congress 2009: Diamond Edition and Gold Edition. Both of these were styled by luxury designer Alexander Amosu. The Diamond Edition was adorned with 90 diamonds around the circular display whereas the Gold Edition featured a 24-carat gold-plated housing. Both editions received a limited release due to its exclusivity.

Motorola released a special edition in July 2009 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Moon landing. Motorola helped create some of the equipment that enabled the Apollo 11 astronauts to communicate with Earth. The special edition phone came with pre-loaded pictures, audio, and video content from NASA. The handset came with a laser-cut inscription and nine post stamps to commemorate the mission. The first unit produced was gifted to Neil Armstrong.

October 2009 saw the release of Aura Diamond Edition, a device upgrade with 18 carat gold plating and 34 diamonds around its screen and navigation buttons. Due to the more premium materials, it had a US$5,730 price tag at launch. Both the Diamond and Celestial editions were showcased at Mobile World Congress 2010.

Features

• Color: Silver only (Stainless steel).
• Vibrating alert.
• Ringtones:Polyphonic and MP3.
• Bluetooth: Yes
• USB: 2.0 Hi-Speed
• Camera: 2 MP with video.
• JAVA: Yes, MIDP 2.0
• Video player: Yes, supports MPEG-4/3gp
• Standby: 410h.
• Talk time: Up to 7 h 20 min
• 16 M colors circular display
• GPRS Class 12
• EDGE Class 12
• Installed games: RealDice Chess, RealDice: Backgammon
• SMS, EMS, MMS
• Vufone installed for synchronization.