14 DAY TRIAL // BIOS maker American Megatrends has just announced that tech-heads who like to tinker with tablets and all-in-ones won’t need to search for USB-cabled keyboards and mice when installing new systems, as Bluetooth will now be supported by default by its UEFI platform.
The UEFI or the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface has replaced the old-school IBM BIOS in modern systems, and although it offers multiple extra features, from a more flexible interface control to XMP DRAM profiling and more, it carries lots of old features as well from the old BIOS. The main of these new features is that it still carries many traditional input devices, like the PS/2 port and the ongoing USB series. This means that users with modern devices like touch-screens and wire-free all-in-one devices will need a keyboard or even a USB adapter cable if they need to access and change the device’s configuration.
Although this tradition has gone on for years since the Bluetooth connectivity was first introduced, American Megatrends has only found this recently and implemented the support for Bluetooth keyboards before any drivers are being updated post OS installation.
It has finally happened
The first firmware to carry this new feature is the Aptio V UEFI platform, which basically allows users to move through the UEFI menus using a Bluetooth keyboard that’s connected to their device’s on-board radio. This way, tinkerers and computer enthusiasts won’t have to run for cabled keyboards or mice in order to just switch some boot drives in BIOS.
According to Subramonian Shankar, President and CEO of American Megatrends, “The addition of Bluetooth keyboard support to Aptio V UEFI Firmware opens up a world of options for users of small form factor and touch-enabled devices, showing once again how AMI has its ear finely tuned to the present and future needs of our OEM customers and their end user consumers.”
There has been no hint from AMI as to which new product will carry their latest firmware, but it’s best to keep an eye on the firmware update number when buying a new motherboard, since it may have the new feature already installed.