I guess he has a point that nobody really knows what UMPC is. Whenever I tell someone what my UMPC's are, I say 'Mini-Slate/Tablet' or 'Mini-Convertible' because if I say 'UMPC', they end up having a confused look on their face.
But 'Mobile Computer'? Guess better be safe and use a really general term.

Whatever, it's still a UMPC.

Companies are running away from the UMPC label. I think, in part, it has to do with clearer product definition. e.g., Intel uses the term Mobile Internet Device (MID). VIA uses the term Ultra Mobile Device (UMD). Note that neither of these terms imply that what they've designed is a computer. This is like how you don't consider your portable media player a computer even though it undoubtedly can run Linux. This shows in their product offerings, which emphasize only a few internet related things (rather than, say, talk about how you can create documents or run specialized Windows applications).

In the case of the HTC Shift though, I think it's because the UMPC term now comes with a lot of bad baggage because the first generation didn't even come close to the expectations M$ set in their initial promotional blitz. (e.g., they were more expensive, heavier, less computationally power, and had a shorter battery life than initially promised.) They'll need to explain the difference between "mobile computer" and "laptop computer" at some point though.

That´s just funny! It´s not a UMPC. To me a UMPC is anything with a screen size between 5 to 7 inches and a fully functional desktop OS. Plain, simple and clear.

You know, if they had released this 8 months ago it would have been a great success, but I think the Asus EEE PC has really moved the goalposts from a value perspective.

Wasn't it promissed for the end of the first quater of 2007? One half year ago, I ordered one, but I cancelled the order. In my mind, it is marketing so all the people are talking about the product but this makes it much more interesting.
For me, I'll search for alternates and won't buy any HTC-product in the near future.