Photo: Martin Olsson / Wikimedia Commons

Though we were once led to believe Microsoft thought the future was in the cloud, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has now stated he believes that the future is in smart devices, where Microsoft is competing most prominently using Windows Phone 7 Series and Windows 7 tablets.

During the Worldwide Partner Conference, Ballmer said, ‘This year, one of the most important things that we will do in the smart device category is really push forward with Windows 7 based slates and with Windows Phone 7 phones.’

Watch this space

After slating the iPad in a veiled attack, calling it ‘the other random device that’s not currently supported by corporate IT’, Ballmer beat his chest about the incoming flood of Windows 7 tablets, saying, ‘In the course of the next several months you will see a range of Windows 7 based slates which I think you’ll find quite impressive. They will come from the people you would expect: from Asus, from Dell, from Samsung, from Toshiba, from Sony.’

Point man

Ballmer is reportedly under a lot of pressure from Microsoft’s investors and shareholders to start performing. The company’s head honcho, who is rumoured to be heading up the Entertainment & Devices division that was shaken up prior to the execution of the Microsoft Kin project, needs a pair of huge victories to stem the tide for Microsoft. The software giant runs the risk of being too reliant on its legacy businesses to be able to compete effectively.

In this respect, Windows 7 tablets need to be, at the very least, a success, and Windows Phone 7 Series needs to be an absolute home run. The embarrassment felt across Redmond over the death of Microsoft Kin is said to have damaged the whole company’s morale, and patience may be wearing thin with Ballmer’s leadership capabilities.