Aura -- Engadget

Aura posts

Motorola Ivory E18 luxury phone developed, scrapped

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Jul 20th 2009 at 5:32PM

If you're considering a luxury cellphone, you've probably given some thought to the Aura -- either as an object of unattainable techno-lust, or as a way to lighten your wallet by a grand or two (don't even get us started in Vertu). According to Mobile Review, Motorola wasn't planning on stopping there: The Ivory E18 (a name which either evokes elegance or animal cruelty, depending on your POV) featured a slider with two movements (a short slide for function keys, and a longer for the T9 keypad), a small footprint, and a 3 megapixel camera. The price? Well, for the stainless steel chassis you were looking at about €2,000 (about $2,821 at the moment). Also planned were phones with gold and platinum chassis, which would take the purchase price up to "several tens of thousands" of Euros. If Motorola wasn't aware of the sheer silliness of such an extravagant phone, at least the carriers were -- apparently it was lack of interest on their part that caused Moto to sack the project. Make sure you hit that read link for the whole story -- in Bulgarian.

[Via Unwired View]

Motorola's Aura Celestial Edition soon taking "giant leaps" for "mankind"

by Darren Murph posted Jul 2nd 2009 at 8:21AM

Here's a fact: the world really doesn't need another mildly tweaked Aura. Sorry, it just doesn't. That being true and all, we're still pretty jazzed to see Motorola giving the ultra-luxurious handset another go with the moon-themed Celestial Edition. Word on the street has it that this here handset won't deviate much from the predecessor, but it will come pre-loaded with multimedia from the original moon landing mission, a laser etched quote honoring the 40th anniversary of the journey and a price tag that's far, far beyond stratospheric. We're told that it's all set to go on sale next month, but good luck finding one.

[Via phoneArena]

David Beckham bends it like a Terminator for Motorola's Aura

by Joshua Topolsky posted Apr 17th 2009 at 10:46AM

Never before in the history of humankind has a company that's been doing so badly had such an enormous amount of money to waste. Enter Motorola, and, consequently, their new Aura advertisement featuring megahunk David Beckham doing what he does best: absolutely nothing. There's not much that we can say that the Terminator-inspired ad won't say for us, so putter on after the break and catch the ad itself, plus Beckster beefcaking it up like a pro and sharing his innermost insights on Moto's $2,000 phone.

[Thanks, ugotamesij]

Continue reading David Beckham bends it like a Terminator for Motorola's Aura

Amosu hands-on: pink, pricey, and plenty of diamonds

by Sean Cooper posted Feb 17th 2009 at 2:23PM

While scavenging for pricey handsets to hang on the gilded walls at the Mansion, we luckily bumped into one Alexander Amosu, of Amosu fame. The Amosu brand is synonymous with gold, encrusted and dripping with gemstones, and most of all, pricey. In his bag of tricks we found three fully-kitted BlackBerry Bolds, a pink iPhone, and an iced Motorola Aura. If you lined them up on a table -- which, of course, we did -- you'd be looking at some 12 plus carats and a price tag somewhere up around 50k. Sure, we're normally harsh on these types of things, but seeing them up close, we could almost kinda get it. Huge sparkling gallery after the break, so if you have shades, now's the time to don them.

Gallery: Amosu hands-on: pink, pricey, and plenty of diamonds

Keepin' it real fake, part CLXXIX: AURA clone loses a vowel and a lot of class

by Tim Stevens posted Feb 4th 2009 at 8:13AM

Despite finding it incredibly luscious to behold, we realize not everyone can afford to drop $2,000 on a piece of pocket jewelery like the Motorola AURA -- ourselves sadly included. Regardless, we would never advise anyone to go the KIRF route, and that includes the RicT-007 AVRA. It looks to offer something of the etched beauty of Moto's choice handset but lacks the exclusivity, cherry wood packaging, and, we presume, the solid feel of the real thing. Yes that 750 yuan price (about $100) is mighty tempting, but resist, fair readers, resist.

[Via Engadget Chinese]

Video: Motorola Aura in action

by Paul Miller posted Jan 11th 2009 at 7:07PM

After we got done drooling over Engadget Mobile's hands-on gallery with the Aura, we thought we'd take the thing for a quick spin on video. It's really impossible to convey how sharp and choice this thing looks and feels in person, but we did our best. Video after the break.

Continue reading Video: Motorola Aura in action

Motorola Aura hands-on

by Sean Cooper posted Jan 10th 2009 at 7:09PM

OK, the Motorola Aura isn't new at CES this year, but honestly, how could you expect us to pass up an opportunity to check it out? So yeah, we might have been harsh on it when we were talking price, but up close this is an amazing little phone. The housing material, build quality, keys, assisted-opening blade mechanism, and sapphire crystal lens are all perfectly done, the display -- while admittedly tiny -- is nothing short of completely stunning. This is without a doubt one of the nicer phones we've handled, though the jury's still out on functionality. Follow on to Engadget Mobile for a gallery loaded with pics that we're hoping show just how beautiful this thing really is. End of gush.

Motorola Aura gets unboxed

by Donald Melanson posted Jan 2nd 2009 at 2:54PM

We've seen it up close and even knocked-off already, but when it comes to a $2,000 phone, we're guessing that a proper unboxing is as high on your list of must-sees as it is on ours. Thankfully, the folks at T3 have come through and done the honors and, as far as unboxings go, this one certainly doesn't disappoint. As you can see above, the phone comes packed in a rather stylish and sturdy box that likely won't be seeing too many trash cans any time soon and, of course, the phone itself is looking as envy-inducing as ever. Hit up the link below for plenty more shots, and keep an eye on T3 for a complete review that's promised to be coming soon.

AURA in stock at Motorola store, still fiercely expensive

by Sean Cooper posted Dec 12th 2008 at 12:34PM

So the moment you and your second mortgage have been dreaming about is here -- though sadly, the price cut you might have wished for is not. For all those clamoring for the $2,000 AURA, Moto's store has it listed as in-stock and we've a sneaking suspicion that unlike the BlackBerry Storm, these aren't going to sell through in hours. So take your time, ponder just how many Xbox 360s, PS3s, or robots you could get instead, then, like we know you will, buy it and start showing it off.

[Via phoneArena]

Keepin' it real fake, part CLXVIII: Motorola Aura clone is everything we ever wanted in a knockoff

by Paul Miller posted Nov 19th 2008 at 9:41AM

If there was ever a phone worth cutting down to size with a completely shoddy but not actually completely unattractive fake edition, it's the Motorola Aura. What we have here is the Wingtech D20, which shares the swivel form factor of the Aura, mocks the round LCD with a perfectly boring square one in a round hole, and boasts a surprisingly weak complement of features, even for a "fake" phone. Oh how you suffer for fashion, Motorola.

[Thanks, Chris]

Motorola to prevent secondhand AURA sales on eBay?

by Darren Murph posted Nov 3rd 2008 at 12:31PM

We'll be completely straight-up with you: we don't believe this for a second. Okay, maybe for a nanosecond, but not a full-on second. An unnamed source close to Motorola has reportedly informed Register Hardware that in order to maintain the AURA's appearance of exclusivity, buyers will be required to "sign into a contract that states they can't sell it on eBay." As if that wasn't preposterous enough, this so-called "source" also added that "if an AURA owner wants to sell their phone after they've bought it then they'll only have one option: to sell it back to the manufacturer." Even if this does miraculously prove true, we can't imagine Moto actually doing anything should someone decide to sell, and besides, there's always ~~Yahoo! Auctions~~ the flea market, right?

Motorola's nearly unattainable AURA gets gobs of hands-on photos

by Darren Murph posted Oct 27th 2008 at 2:25AM

When we hear "hands-on," we generally expect a smattering of images detailing the highlights -- you know, about as many as a fidgety PR person will allow, or about as many as one can take before they succumb to self-indulgence. In this "first look" of Motorola's ridiculously luxurious $2,000 AURA, however, the author not only took the time to detail his first impressions, but to also upload dozens of snapshots to show you exactly what this here handset looks like in just about every possible light. And that's a good thing too, because the chances of any of us simpletons actually seeing one in the flesh is slim to none.

[Thanks, Drei Drei]

Motorola intros avant-garde $2,000 AURA, markets it like a Rolex

by Darren Murph posted Oct 21st 2008 at 11:07AM

We can't remember the last time we purchased a phone because it possessed 700+ individual components, a stainless steel housing or a front plate that takes a fortnight to create, but Motorola's hoping you start to care about that kind of minutiae right about now. The admittedly gorgeous AURA (previously coined V70) is the world's first handset with a 16-million color circular display, and aside from making / receiving calls with the utmost clarity, it also boasts a Swiss-made main bearing, 62-carat sapphire crystal lens, a 2-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, microUSB port, quad-band GSM connectivity, a microSD card slot, multimedia player and up to 7.3-hours of talk time (400-hours in standby). The 4.97-ounce handset is available exclusively from the MOTO STORE for $1,999.99, with pre-orders shipping out beginning December 4th. Who's in?

[Thanks, Paulo and Jake]

Read - Dedicated AURA website
Read - Motorola AURA press release

Gallery: Motorola intros avant-garde $2,000 AURA, markets it like a Rolex

Samsung unveils Aura and Eclipse Montevina-based laptops

by Nilay Patel posted Jul 8th 2008 at 1:53PM

Montevina-based laptops are slowly but surely starting to trickle out, and Samsung's the latest to joint the party with a new Aura machine and the entirely new Eclipse line. The new R510 Aura sports a 15.4-inch screen, 2.53GHz T9400 Core 2 Duo on Montevina's 1066MHz bus with integrated X4500 graphics, 4GB of RAM, a dual-layer burner and a 320GB drive in a five-pound package, while the new Eclipse R710 17-inch desktop replacement sports a 2.53GHz P9500 Core 2 Duo and 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics in a new case design with colorful accents. Rounding out the Eclipse line are the 12.1-inch Q210 and 13.3-inch Q310 (pictured), which are being billed as ultraportables. Both feature NVIDIA 256MB GeForce 9200M GS, 4GB of RAM, 320GB drives, and dual-layer burners in the new Eclipse case design, but the Q210 makes do with a 2.26GHz P8400 Core 2 Duo, while the larger Q310 gets a 2.4GHz chip. No pricing information is available yet, but scroll past the break for pictures of the other machines.

Read - Eclipse Q210 and Q310
Read - Eclipse R710
Read - Aura R510

Continue reading Samsung unveils Aura and Eclipse Montevina-based laptops

Samsung set to release Aura R410 14-inch laptop

by Donald Melanson posted Apr 14th 2008 at 11:09AM

Samsung hasn't exactly been flooding the market with its Aura laptops since it kicked off the line last year, but the few models it has released so far have certainly been decent enough, and its just-announced R410 model looks to be no exception. This one squeezes right into the middle of the pack with a 14.1-inch, 1,280 x 800 display, which gets backed up by "Intel's latest 45nm Penryn CPUs," ATI Radeon Xpress 1250M graphics, a DVD burner, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, built-in WiFi and Bluetooth, and a welcome ExpressCard slot. All of that comes in an expectedly glossy package that weighs in at just over five pounds, and boasts a starting price of £499 (or about $1,000). Look for it to hit Europe in May, with no word of a release 'round these parts just yet.