Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told attendees of the company’s Worldwide Partner Conference that Microsoft is committed to bringing new tablets and smartphones to the market. But is it too little, too late?

During his keynote address Ballmer faced partner concerns head-on, essentially acknowledging that Microsoft had fallen behind competitors. Increasingly, partners have voiced concerns that Microsoft is losing relevancy due to its lurching mobile strategy. On July 1st, less than two months after launching its Kin One and Kin Two with Verizon Wireless, and days after Verizon halved prices, Microsoft cancelled further development of the devices.

"Over the course of the next several months, you will see a range of Windows 7-based slates that I think you'll find quite impressive," Balmer said, alluding to the fact that the Microsoft approach would differ from Apple’s “one-size-fits-all” iPad strategy in that the form factors and pricing would vary from model to model.

Dell, Samsung, and Toshiba were mentioned by Ballmer on stage. Curiously missing were HP and Cisco: HP’s Slate was at first thought to be Microsoft's answer to the iPad, but the project has been scrapped after HP decided not to use Windows 7 on the device; and at Cisco Live a few weeks ago CEO John Chambers released the Cisco Cius, a media-rich tablet that will run on Google’s open-source Android platform.

Balmer said Microsoft was on track with Windows Phone 7, claiming that tablet computers from several partners are expected within months. Smartphone are another area of focus – and concern – with Ballmer admitting that Microsoft had "missed a generation" with Windows Mobile.

Unsurprisingly, Balmer claimed to be confident that Windows Phone 7 would make up for lost time given that the latest version of Microsoft's mobile OS has been reworked from the ground up: instead of a menu-based system, Windows Phone 7 relies on "hubs" that group similar content together.