NTT DoCoMo announced the three handsets that they'll be using to test HSDPA services. The company wants to introduce HSDPA as early as the 2nd quarter of this year, so they'll need to get moving.

NTT DoCoMo has developed three prototype models that support HSDPA, which is set to be launched in the 2nd quarter of 2006. The makers of the three handsets are NEC, Fujitsu, and Motorola, and each prototype will be o­n display at the "3GSM World Congress" that will be in Spain from February 13th.

"HSDPA" has been positioned as the evolution of "W-CDMA," which is a 3G transmission specification currently used in FOMA. The name comes from High-Speed Downlink Packet Access, and its key characteristic is a drastically increased download rate versus W-CDMA systems. DoCoMo, Vodafone, and other companies that use W-CDMA in their systems are planning for the introduction of HSDPA.

The three prototypes that have been announced come from NEC, Fujitsu, and Motorola. The NEC handset is based o­n the "N902i," the Fujitsu o­n the "F901iS," and the Motorola o­n the "RAZR V3x." The size remains roughly the same as the base models, with the NEC handset at 106 x 51 x 25mm, the Fujitsu handset at 105 x 51 x 28mm, and the Motorola handset at 100 x 52 x 20mm. Since they are prototypes, neither weight nor battery life has been announced.

All of the prototypes have a maximum download speed of 3.6Mbps, which is roughly 10 times that of the current FOMA. HSDPA theoretically allows for a maximum download speed of 14.4Mbps, but there are 12 types of categories in the HSDPA specification; implementation of 14.4Mbps is in the "Category 10" specification. These DoCoMo prototypes support "Category 6."

Inspired by:
http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/article/news_toppage/27594.html

Press Release:
http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/info/news_release/page/20060201.html