Wildfire Alpha gets May launch now

Sources close to Compaq's plans now tell us that it will be May before the company officially launches its much-vaunted Wildfire Alpha range. That means a further delay for the technology, which has been postponed several times already. However, our informant also adds that there are already pre-orders for the Wildfire technology, amounting to over 200, worth a cool half a billion bucks for the Big Q. Since last month, Compaq has been quietly seeding the market with Wildfire systems. Our understanding is that there are no technical problems with the Wildfire, but that the moves are part of a cunning marketing plan. Meanwhile, if you want to see Alpha's 1u form factor, codenamed Slate, have a gander at this picture here. ®