DigitMemo.com

There’s absolutely no reason you should be waiting the three-plus minutes it takes your computer to boot up Windows

Phoenix says its new technology, HyperSpace, will offer mobile PC users the ability to instantly fire up their most used apps — things like e-mail, web browsers and various media players — without using Windows, simply by pressing the F4 button.

Phoenix Technologies is the company responsible for many computers’ basic input/output system, or BIOS, the firmware code that runs when your PC starts up. Usually, the BIOS identifies the hardware on your PC and initializes components, then lets the operating system handle everything else, from storing files to connecting with networks to running applications. In essence, HyperSpace is a simple operating environment, a layer on top of the BIOS, that runs side-by-side with Windows and can efficiently implement some of the most commonly used apps on a PC.

Like VMware and Parallels, the platform isn’t supposed to be a replacement for Windows, but rather a much-needed augmentation. Not only will the technology provide “instant-on” use, but it will also boost battery life by up to 50 percent as well as offer remote manageability.

Phoenix Technologies says content providers will be able to create “instant-on” applications like media players, and PC system vendors will be able to embed purpose-built apps into new computers. The quick-start apps will operate like self-contained appliances.

The company expects that manufacturers will start to integrate the HyperSpace platform into laptops within the next six to nine months, with consumers likely seeing a HyperSpace option from manufacturers in the second half of 2008.