Ballmer: Microsoft's future is mobile

Delivering a keynote address on the second day of the 3GSM Congress in Barcelona, Microsoft's chief executive Steve Ballmer said the mobile market is an increasingly vital one to Microsoft's future.

Ballmer claimed the wall between business users and consumers is an artificial division, and vowed his company is going to focus on developing software and services that appeal to "people" rather than market segments.

The key to developing useful software and services for mobile platforms, Ballmer explained, is embracing the fact that people often want to use devices or services to manage both their personal and business affairs.

He said: "Everyone likes to differentiate between business and consumers but I don't see the difference really. Most people are people. I get personal and business mail and I have one set of contacts from my life. I don't want to manage two sets. I want one view of my world."

Ballmer added that Microsoft will increase its focus on all things mobile this year, with a slew of product announcements, partnerships and marketing campaigns. "This year we are really ramping up the energy with a new ad campaign around Windows Mobile. We are launching new versions of Outlook and Exchange and one of the top priorities of our sales-force will be to drive Windows Mobile into the enterprise to allow things to flourish."

During the keynote, Ballmer announced some upcoming products including the mobile version of the Office Communicator product. Communicator is Microsoft's attempt to push instant messaging into the enterprise and will include features such as integrated VoIP services later this year. The company claims to have already shipped around 10 million units of the desktop version of Communicator.

(Story continues below photo...)

Ballmer also gave a glimpse of the mobile version of the company's Office Live suite of web hosting and business applications for small companies. The mobile version of the software will include such features as unified contact management and email from a handset.

Microsoft is expected to launch a test version of Office Live on Wednesday.

Ballmer claimed Microsoft has made real advances in the mobile arena with more than 100 operators supporting the 100 models of Windows Mobile phones in more than 50 countries. He also claimed around 18,000 applications have been developed for Windows Mobile.

During his speech, Ballmer made much of his company's ability to provide a consistent platform for handset makers, operators and customers alike. "One of the key properties of Windows Mobile and Windows is that it is a consistent platform and runs a consistent set of applications and devices. The cost of re-engineering for every handset and operator gets to be prohibitive as the industry marches on," he said.

However, the Microsoft boss was quick to quash any suggestion Redmond is looking to force its entire product range onto mobile hardware makers and operators.

He said: "We do recognise that the world is a heterogeneous place and it is important that we embrace that. I get asked, 'Do we have to take all of your stuff to take any of your stuff?', and the answer is 'No' - we provide great extensibility.

"If you want to build your own services, you can license technology from us to build your own."

Andrew Donoghue writes for ZDNet UK