During the 2011 CES live keynote address in Las Vegas, Nevada, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer took to the stage to give a glimpse of what Microsoft has in store now, as well as down the road.

The Microsoft team showed off some of its latest innovations, such as the Kinect, which has proven to be very popular with Xbox 360 owners since its release, and Windows Phone 7, which has received favorable reviews as well.

Xbox fans were told to expect several new features in the coming months, including updates to the streaming movie and TV show aspects of the system, with Netflix and Hulu Plus both getting full Kinect motion control support.

Avatar Kinect, a new social feature, was also debuted, allowing users to use Kinect along with their avatar to meet up with their friends online in a number of unique locations, and talk to them with Kinect providing full real-time capture of facial expressions, so their avatar reflects their full facial movements more realistically.

Looking ahead, Microsoft said it is committed to continuing the improvement of Windows Phone 7, with new feature updates expected to be available in the coming months, and envisions all of its products being able to work together seamlessly, whether the device is a phone, PC, game console, or tablet. Improvements to Microsoft’s Surface PC were also shown, with the PC now only four inches thick, instead of needing the large housing required in the previous model. The new Surface PC lends itself more easily now to being able to be used in a number of situations, such as kiosks, or simply having a large touchscreen PC to hang on a wall.

The keynote also featured Windows 7, which is another product that has been a hit with consumers for the company. Several new tablets, small notebooks, and other PCs will all be using Windows 7, but Microsoft hasn’t stopped there. A new version of Windows is on the horizon, and will feature System on a Chip support (SoC), allowing manufacturers to run full Windows and full programs, such as Microsoft Office, on systems powered by single chips that house the entire inner workings of the PC. The new support is sure to enable manufacturers to explore radical new device designs, knowing that their new creations will be just as powerful as today’s systems, as well as more energy efficient.

Though some have worried if Microsoft would be able to hold its own against the fierce competition emerging in the mobile marketplace, the company seems confident that it has a clear plan for the future, a future of innovation, convergence, usability, and connectivity.