Microsoft Looking To Chop Up Netbook Segment

Just as Psion and Intel have reached an agreement over use of the term "netbook", it looks like Microsoft may want to stick their oar in.  According to Steven Guggenheimer, general manager of the Application Platform & Development Marketing Division at the company, now that many of the budget ultraportables can do more than simply accessing the internet, they should have a title that recognizes that they're more than simply "netbooks".

It's a strategy that some analysts are suggesting has more to do with Microsoft's Windows 7 product range than it does anything else.  If Microsoft can separate out the new breed of mid- and high-range ultraportable notebooks from traditional entry-level netbooks, it can press manufacturers to include higher level versions of the Windows 7 OS.

Microsoft have declined to comment on such speculation, and instead suggest that the company's Computex 2009 keynote will further outline Guggenheimer's real intention.  Something tells us that the company isn't particularly happy about the proliferation of other terms – Smartbook, NVIDIA's new MID definition – either.