Aston Martin takes on Apple's iPhone

Aston Martin, the British brand behind supercars associated with the 007 films, has unveiled a mobile phone concept that could challenge the Apple iPhone as the world's coolest communications handset.

The CPT002 Aston Martin Concept Phone has been produced under licence by Canadian luxury-phone maker Mobiado and features a transparent touchscreen made from solid sapphire crystal.

Platinum sides contain all the phone's electronics, battery and SIM card, allowing the see-through section to display multiple Android icons, including apps for social networking sites.

Details of the phone's capabilities are scarce, but US media report the mobile can theoretically unlock the doors to the owner's Aston Martin and has also been designed to provide in-car wireless connectivity to sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Mobiado says the concept phone is its vision for future mobile communications and is inspired by Aston's design values that fuse "a strong heritage and traditional craftsmanship with modern technology".

The phone is not expected to go into production but instead act as a promotional tool for a new range of Aston Martin-badged Mobiado mobile phones due to go on sale in May