Hi all,
So I’ve spent the past few days researching into these implants and think I have settled upon waiting for the VivoKey Apex release which seems to be in the coming few months.
Will there be many things I will be missing out on by waiting for this instead of getting the NExT (my second choice)?
My understanding is that the Apex will be able to do the same things as the xNT, and so all I will be missing out on is the features of the xEM, which I can live with.
Welcome!
This is correct. The apex is not exactly the same though and we do not have all details but it will be able to store NDEF data like the xNT yes.
See @amal’s much more in depth, nuanced and accurate answer.
Welcome!
To be pedantic everything the apex is not yet released.
As for the real question, alot! Its a cryptographic implant so has the ability to use the UID as a identifier for login or access control the same as an xNT.
The bonus comes with all the other features, @amal appears to writing a much more independent answer than anyone else could so ill leave him to it!
sorry nope… not correct.
The thing that the Apex cannot do is be an NTAG216 chip. When you ask “what can chip A do that chip B cannot”, that includes the entire scope of all possibilities… including applications that specifically look for the NTAG216 chip, either by profiling the memory structure of the chip it’s talking to, or issuing the ADPU command GET_VERSION:
Nowhere is this more infuriating than 3rd party devices… the marketing for the device might talk about supporting “ISO14443A” tags, but in reality they only support a very specific subset of devices within that specification because of the unique command sets or memory structures involved, none of which have to do with any of the ISO14443A standard or its parts.
Sorry forgot to link have a look at the vivokey website, pretty much everything we know about the apex range is on there!
Thanks all!
So I presume for a novice user like myself, the app support of the should outweigh any potential missed features of the xNT.
For context, I want to use an implant for access to my vehicle and some custom hidden storage safes and so these will likely be custom arduino projects anyway. The main reason for wanting to wait for the Apex is for the security features, as my understanding is it would be possible to read the UID from the xNT and use this to create a cloned card (more likely to smash the window but hey ho).
Honestly I would pick up the NExT as a great first implant, gives you the HF and LF so you have that.
Note that most access control is done using the UID of the tag so you will be able to do what you want with the storage on the implant.
The xEM side of the chip works great with the xAC for access control or other projects where as the xNT side works well with mobiles and has the ability to create records for your contact card or url.
Well if you are making a custom things you can build to suit the implant. If you are sure you only want 1 the apex gives you the most HF options.
Yeah I kind of forget about that stuff as I only relay work with DIY stuff so I don’t get bitten by that. My bad.
Yeah I was considering this but because of the quarantine rules in the UK it would be difficult to get one implanted at the moment anyway. It sounds like the Apex isn’t far away so I think it would be worth the wait.
Maybe I’ll get the bug for it and want more afterwards, but at the moment i’m thinking just the 1.
FYI, this is a very good reference page on the DT website ( Check out the whole page ) Videos and the product matrix ( Bear in mind the Matrix is not currently fully upto date but there is a great deal of information contained within chip-implants-101
