PC BIOS pioneer Phoenix Technologies has introduced a software component, called Phoenix Core Managed Environment (CME), that is intended to help developers build essential applications and critical services into digital devices, making them “always protected and always accessible.”

Phoenix describes CME as “a standards-based set of enabling technologies and applications” that reside “both within the system firmware and within a protected area of the hard drive.” These technologies and applications are “always available and always secure because they do not depend on the operating system or user action,” the company said.

CME is said to enable the creation and management of a secure “host protected area” (HPA) of the hard drive where CME-certified applications (“Phoenix FirstWare”) reside. These apps help diagnose and recover the system in the event of an operating system malfunction. According to Phoenix, CME is the first such environment to enable third-party developers to write their own applications for storage in the tamper-proof HPA area. Another set of CME-certified apps (“FirstView Connect”) that can run within the HPA includes an Internet browser and email application, the company said.

Phoenix said CME is available in several versions — including PC, server, information appliance, and embedded editions — each of which includes a platform-specific set of applications, BIOS, tools, and APIs.

 
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