Steve Ballmer’s keynote at SMX West in Santa Clara received a lot of attention. Although no major announcements were made during the talk, there was still a lot of response. WebProNews caught up with Michael Martin of Mobile Martin to get his thoughts on the keynote.

Martin, who works primarily in the area of mobile, had some questions regarding Microsoft’s mobile efforts. Earlier this year at the Mobile World Congress, Microsoft announced its Windows Phone 7. However, the company said it would not be released until the end of the year. Martin believes this announcement was slightly premature.

Not only is Apple expected to release a new version of its iPhone later in the year, but Android also has the opportunity to better leverage its own platform before Windows Phone 7 is rolled out.

Microsoft’s monetization plan for its mobile platform is also in question. According to Martin, Ballmer indicated that the software giant plans to monetize search. It also plans to receive some revenue from licensing fees.

Additionally, Martin hoped Ballmer would reveal a specific date in which Bing would power Yahoo Search. Unfortunately, a date was not mentioned.