Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, has said that he is really looking forward to the "bunch of new devices running Windows Phone" about to be announced at Nokia World, suggesting multiple devices from the Finnish company running Windows Phone 7.

The comments made by the Microsoft CEO at the Web 2 Summit in San Francisco came as he was talking about the company’s range of handsets.

When asked why users should buy a Windows Phone 7 smartphone over the new iPhone 4S, Ballmer heralded the ability to search with Bing really quickly, claiming that the iPhone was a "sea of icons and blah-blah-blah".

On why its users should opt for a Microsoft-powered phone over Android, the CEO wasn’t as gracious.

"You don’t need to be a computer scientist to use a Windows Phone. It is really hard for me to get excited about Android."

In a strange move Ballmer refused to rule out the possibility of Microsoft building its own Windows Phone, instead opting to avoid the question saying that "Microsoft will do what it takes to enable hardware innovation."

In a frank 1-hour talk that garnered many laughs from audience, Ballmer also said that Microsoft got lucky in failing to buy Yahoo for $44bn in 2008.

"The market really fell apart. Times change. Some times you are lucky," said the Microsoft CEO when asked whether he was thankful that the deal fell through.