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Motorola Aura: Because square screens are so passe

If you're bored of squares -- and even rectangles -- the Motorola Aura will perk you right up. It's the world's first mobile phone to boast a circular screen

Andrew Lim

We can see the marketing now: "If you liked square screens, just wait till you see a circular one!" The latest phone to roll out of the Moto fun factory is the Motorola Aura, a fashion phone with a circular display. This may be the actual pinnacle of Motorola's desperation -- we can't see how it can get any weirder than this.

We have no idea how the design process works for something as bafflingly awful as this, but we like to think Moto executives clambered on to a meeting room table and fought to the death over their chosen shape, screaming, "Triangle!" "Square!" "Circle!"

Another feature that would be snivellingly grateful for one iota of your attention is the Aura's opening mechanism. Combining stainless steel, sapphire crystals and a Swiss-made bearing, the Aura is apparently a 'watch-inspired' phone.

You might be thinking that this phone reminds you a little of another Motorola phone, the Motorola V70, which wasn't exactly feature-packed -- so what does the Aura come with?

There's stereo Bluetooth, 2GB of on-board memory and a 2-megapixel camera. Unfortunately that's about it -- no 3G, Wi-Fi or GPS. It's expected to launch at the end of this year, and pricing has yet to be announced, but as it's a fashion phone you can expect it to be aimed at the 'more money than sense' market. -Andrew Lim