ON MOTOROLA'S NEW AURA

HOPE AND DREAMS

This announcement of a new phone by Motorola would obviously have been utterly unremarkable a year ago.  But in the current context of the biggest financial and economic global crisis in decades, it becomes very noticeable.  Engadget has the details:

"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...
Read - Dedicated AURA website
Read - Motorola AURA press release"

Given that Motorola is searching for the next big thing after it's phenomenal success with the RAZR a few years ago, you'd think they'd be keying up something aimed more at the mainstream market. 
Who knows, perhaps a mainstream version of the Aura, with only a few dozen moving parts and a more down-to-earth price may do the trick. 
The phone as it is does look cool, but is it cool enough for a $2,000 price tag in these times?