Says ASUS

Mar 1, 2007 10:38 GMT  ·  By

Some while ago we got to see the Aura, a concept phone that came along with a whole series of other mobile phones that were immediately tagged i-Phone killers or rivals.

The mobile phone looked very promising and people were expecting to find out more about it, hoping that ASUS would end up releasing it.

With smashing looks and features that weren't that bad either, the Aura was definitely going to be a choice for people who wanted a handset packing what the iPhone lacks, like 3G capabilities and a MicroSD card slot.

It also featured a slender pop-out keyboard and a sliding control bar that could be positioned at various points along the display. Rumor has it that ASUS has ordered the design prototype for the Aura from the Hungarian design company Egy Studio.

The concept phone does in fact appear on Egy Studio's website so it is more than clear that they designed it. But it looks like ASUS has nothing to do with it. Recently, ASUS have announced that they know nothing about this concept phone and the Aura 'is not sanctioned or supported by our company'. Moreover, according to ASUS, the Aura concept phone is not real.

Now the only thing that remains unexplained is why is the ASUS brand stamped on the Aura. That being said, unless ASUS is planning this phone and trying to keep it a secret, the Aura ends up being just another one of those pretty concept phones we get to see on various designers' websites that no one ever considers to actually manufacture. Although most people would like to see this concept become reality, the chances of Aura going into production and later hitting the stores are very slim.