Shining aura Unfazed by the weak economy, Motorola has drenched its high-end phone, the Aura, in bling. It has the same rotating-cover-and-circular-display design first used on the V70 handset but the Aura's small display has an impressive scratch-resistant 62-carat sapphire crystal lens. The back reveals a window into its mechanical heart. The Swiss-engineered main bearing, tungsten carbide-coated gears and 130 precision ball bearings drive the swivel-blade design. The stainless-steel case has intricate patterns chemically etched into its surface. Other features include a 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth support, aluminium keys and a 2-gigabyte memory. A quad-band GSM handset, this model lacks Wi-fi and Global Positioning System support. The Aura costs HK$14,888.

Almost true Blu Can't afford a Blu-ray player? No problem. Toshiba's XD-E500 (above) offers an alternative that can also extend the life of your DVD collection. The DVD player employs so-called eXtended Detail Enhancement video-processing technology. This enhances the images on a standard-definition disc to, what Toshiba claims is, almost high-definition playback quality. The XD-E500 DVD player sells for HK$1,480.

For top laps Sony's Vaio VGN-Z27GN/X (below) is the flagship product of its executive-class Z series of laptops. Top-notch specifications include a Blu-ray disc drive; a 350-gigabyte hard drive; Intel's Centrino 2 technology; a rigid carbon-fibre body; a unique silver hinge; an aluminium keyboard and palm rest; and a scratch-resistant, high-resolution 13.1-inch display. No slouch in data-protection features, it has a fingerprint sensor and security chip. The VGN-Z27GN/X laptop is priced at HK$21,980.