Motorola Aura

The Motorola Aura (styled AURA) was a series of mobile phones from Motorola, which are part of the 4LTR line. The series was announced in October 2008 and was made available for purchase by December of that year. Although 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, the Aura Celestial Edition, and another Aura Diamond Edition. The Aura was priced at US$200 and was made with materials such as stainless steel and sapphire. It was packaged in a wooden box.

The AURA phone featured a circular display with a 300dpi resolution. The user interface was specifically designed for this circular display, using the MotoMagx operating system from Motorola. The device featured a swivel-like opening mechanism that used Swiss-made gears made of Rockwell 50-55 hardened steel and 130 ball bearings.

R1

Motorola Aura R1

Manufacturer	Motorola
Availability by region	December 2008
Related	Motorola V70
Compatible networks	2G only, GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
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.
Rear camera	2 megapixel camera (1600×1200 pixels) with video
Display	circular TFT screen, 16 million colors, 480px in diameter
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 (£1,200, over US$2,000). 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 resolution of 300dpi.

Two Aura special editions were announced at Mobile World Congress 2009: the Diamond Edition and Gold Edition. Both of these were styled by designer Alexander Amosu. The Diamond Edition included 90 diamonds set around the circular display whereas the Gold Edition featured a 24-carat gold-plated housing. Both editions were a limited release.

Motorola released a special edition in July 2009 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Moon landing. Motorola helped create some of the communication equipment used by the Apollo 11 mission. 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 given to Neil Armstrong.

In October 2009, the Aura Diamond Edition was released. A version of the mobile phone with 18 carat gold plating and 34 diamonds set around its screen and navigation buttons. It had a US$5,730 (£3,500, €3,800) price tag at launch. Both the Diamond and Celestial editions were showcased at Mobile World Congress 2010.

Features

• Colour: 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
• Battery: 810 mAh
• 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.