In a phone interview with Reuters on Monday, Ballmer said he sees wireless technology, allowing users to beam photos and songs to one another, compensating for Apple's early-mover advantage, because the iPod does not offer that feature yet. 

"You could say, 'yeah we're starting out umpty-ump millions players behind' or you could say 'hey look, there is a whole new paradigm that is going to happen in this business and we're jumping in at the beginning,"' Ballmer said.

"Who knows when Apple will jump in? It's a good company. I'm sure it won't take (Apple) forever," he added.

About a possible Zune phone:

"It's a platform for literally hundreds of thousands of additional innovations on top of that core connectivity,"

About the agreement with Universal:

"We wanted the music industry to support us enthusiastically as opposed to begrudgingly."

Read the full article on Reuters .