Phoenix Technologies Ltd., the world leader in UEFI firmware technology, products and tools, announced it has signed an agreement with Intel Corp to be its collaborative partner for BIOS. Together, the two companies will develop the new reference UEFI firmware for the Intel code base.
Under the terms of the agreement, Phoenix will provide on-site engineers who will collaborate with Intel across various locations worldwide to develop the reference UEFI core code firmware.
The new reference UEFI firmware aims to improve and standardize the code base support for all of Intel's future client platforms. Such improvements will cover various areas including tools, re-visioning schemes and other firmware structures that will help bring customer products to market in a faster and more efficient manner.
Moreover, the jointly developed reference standard for UEFI BIOS on Intel platforms will help OEMs in meeting market demands such as enhanced battery performance, instant-on and always-connected for ultra-thin devices, in addition to performance, reliability and scalability.
Intel has also selected Phoenix Technologies to provide engineering support for its server software development platforms. Through this joint venture, the two leading companies will be able to serve their mutual customers while reducing the amount of time for developing hardware and software. Meanwhile, customers will be able to achieve performance and scalability for server systems, while balancing complex multi-core chipsets and software design.
Intel selected Phoenix, which pioneered the commercial BIOS business, as a firmware partner due to the company's strong technology expertise, achieved over three decades of serving the market. Phoenix' firmware architecture is structured and well-organized, which makes it easy to use, extensible and readable - essential characteristics for Intel. As Intel continues its shift towards EDK II across all platforms, the company is focusing on top quality engineering and technology development, and choosing the best partners is crucial.
"Phoenix has over 200 patents in the US and internationally," said Phoenix CEO Rick Geruson. "Greater than 75% of our patents are in core system software (BIOS) and we continue to provide innovation in this technology space. Through the collaborative creation of UEFI firmware with Intel, our mutual customers will benefit from new levels of efficiency while providing them with current and future platforms that support faster and easier modifications, and next generation product development," Geruson added. "It's an honor to work with Intel on this project, confirming our leadership role in firmware."
