Company aims for 2006 launch NTT DoCoMo Inc. has unveiled three prototype cell phones that are compatible with a high-speed data transmission technology that it hopes to launch later this year.The phones were developed with Fujitsu Ltd., Motorola Inc. and NEC Corp. and are compatible with the HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) networking technology. HSDPA can be applied to existing WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) cellular networks as an upgrade, and takes data transmission speeds from the hundreds of kilobits per second possible today into the megabit-per-second range.NTT DoCoMo plans to launch an HSDPA service sometime between July and September this year. The prototype handsets don’t have names but the Motorola phone bears a close resemblance to its Razr thin clamshell model. All three phones support data transmission at up to 3.6M bps (bits per second), about 10 times the maximum speed on existing handsets of 384k bps.NTT DoCoMo plans to exhibit the three handsets at the 3GSM exhibition that will take place in Barcelona, Spain, from Feb. 13. HSDPA handsets from other companies are expected to be on show as well, after several carriers announced plans to start such services.Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. showed a prototype HSDPA phone at the recent International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The South Korean handset maker is working with Vodafone Group PLC, which has said it plans to begin HSDPA trials early this year. Technology Industry