Inspired by luxury watches and handcrafted design, Motorola announces its new handset – AURA, the new unique mobile phone that breaks convention and re-establishes artistry in the design and manufacturing of mobile devices. Fine craftsmanship and the industry’s first circular display help AURA deliver a sensory experience for those with refined tastes.

Sophisticated design, high performance racing engines and the quality of a photographic print served as the perfect muses to inspire the creation of AURA. The quality of a photographic print is celebrated in the brilliant interplay of 16 million colors and 300 dpi resolution on the unique, round liquid-crystal display (1.55” in diameter, 480 pixel diameter). Capped with a Grade 1 62-carat sapphire crystal lens – one of the most scratch-resistant materials on Earth – AURA is simply elegant.

The hand-sculpted richness of AURA can literally be felt in its stainless steel housing, textures and patterns chemically etched into its surface. The front piece of the phone takes nearly two weeks to create. During that time, the stainless steel is sculpted, electro and hand polished, chemically etched and PVD coated. The result is a finely finished product that withstands the test of time.

By turning the phone over, one can reveal a window, which displays its mechanical heart. The Swiss-made gears composed of Rockwell 50-55 hardened steel and 130 precision ball bearings work in tandem to drive the assisted-opening blade, an effect more like opening a luxury car door than accessing a mobile device. Its custom-engineered rotating mechanism is composed of more than 200 high-precision individual parts, and the gears are protected against harsh conditions with the same coatings used in high-performance racing engines.

Motorola’s proprietary CrystalTalk technology takes AURA to the highest level of audio clarity on every call, while Stereo Bluetooth technology enables owners to make and take phone calls hands free by pairing with a compatible headset.

Other features of the phone include: music player supporting a wide range of music files (AAC, AAC+, AAC+ Enhanced, MIDI, MP3, WAV, WMA v10, WMA v9), video player (Capture/Playback, Capture/Playback/Streaming, H.263, H.264, MPEG4), 2 Megapixel camera (fixed focus), 2GB user available memory, GPRS and EDGE Class 12 connectivities, and an 810 mAh typical (780 mAH minimum) battery.

AURA is expected to be available around the globe starting with Q4 2008 for approximately 1500 Euros.