Hands-on with Motorola's high-fashion AURA cell phone

Motorola AURA

Motorola AURA

Motorola AURA

While catching up with some friends at Motorola during the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show, we managed to snag some time with the company's new flagship fashion handset, the AURA. Those of you that have been following the mobile industry for some time will likely recognize the AURA as being an updated V70 - a device that was unique at the time.

The AURA features a cool swivel form factor and a high-resolution, circular main display that is covered by a glass lens similar to those found on high end watches. It gives the display, and the rest of the phone, a very rich look. The AURA has a number of different watch faces that can be used as the standby screen, as you will see in the video below.

In terms of raw capabilities, the AURA sports a 2 megapixel camera and works on all four of the major GSM/EDGE network bands used throughout the world. It has 2GB of built-in storage space for tunes and photos, and can even work with wireless stereo Bluetooth headphones and headsets.

With a price of US$2000, it's not a phone for everybody, but it is certainly one that will attract stares as you move around town, moving and shaking with the trend setters.

You'll find more live CES 2009 photos of the Motorola AURA on the next page.