It's my understanding that a commlink is, among other things, a communications device. If one were to have one installed internally, would they need some sort of throat mike or something external in order to use it as a phone/radio? I'm thinking no. I also assume any text messaging would be done mentally, without the need for keypad right?

Yep. Any activity on your brand-new internal commlink can be done mentally. Not just text messaging. Really, any commlink with a Direct Neural Interface is capable of that, meaning trodes or a datajack will give you the same capabilities.

Thanks!

this is a nice step up from SR3 and older.
there you would need a special piece of cyberware to do the same stuff, and it never showed up in the main book.
in SR4 you can have secure brain to brain talks with a bit of fibreoptic cable and a datajack at each end.

I especially love the brain to brain talk... it's been in the fiction forever but this is the first time i've seen it printed in a rulebook.

I thought you had to have trodes with a sim module to go dni

to go DNI you need either of these setups:

- comlink with sim module and trodes.

- comlink with sim module and datajack.

- implant comlink with sim module.

so the realy vital part is the sim module.

It's even kind of silly that the sim module isn't included with the Implant commlink. How would you use it otherwise?

Wait a minute, how would you speak with your brain? That doesn't make sense. Brain to brain contact, sure, but what if you're calling someone who doesn't have an internal commlink, and is talking to you? Your voice is a function of your vocal chords, after all.

Also, aren't internal commlinks kind of a rip-off? A regular commlink comes with a music player, micro-trid/holo projector, touch screen display, camcorder, microphone, image/text scanner, RFID tag reader, GPS, keyboard, chip player, credstick reader, earbuds, and of course, a case and voice access controls. Now granted, you have no need for a keyboard, earbuds, touch screen, or voice access with an internal commlink. But you're missing out on all of those free scanners, the RFID, credstick, and chip readers, the holo projector, and the camcorder. Unless, of course, you buy more cyberwear (cybereyes, for example) to duplicate what you're getting for 2k less if you buy a regular commlink.

PLUS, you've got a GPS tracker *in your head*...doesn't sound like a bright idea for a shadowrunner to me.

I still can't come up with a good reason to toss .20 essence and an extra 2k down the drain for one of these. Especially since commlinks are so small, and can be accessed wirelessly. Just buy a datajack and you're set.

your voice is a combination of throat shape and all that, but it can be simulated in software. one basicly need a good 3d reading of the shape of all the parts, and then calculate how the air reacts when traveling thru said parts. sounds are just waves traveling thru air and can therefor be calculated and simulated using maths.

the other option is basicly how steven hawkings talk to the world, only with a direct brain read rather then a one button keyboard.

the comlink looks for specific patterns and selects sounds based on that.

and dont forget that everything and the kitchen sink is wireless in SR4. i would allow all the standard features to be external devices that talk to the headware comlink via the PAN. same basic functionality, just dont leave them at home

GPS tracker in your head? hack the software and kill the outgoing signal.
remeber that a GPS on its own is a passive device. its just reads the time and posision signal of x satelites and calculates its own posision based on triangulation, there is no two way comunication with GPS. so if you want to track someone using GPS there needs to be a outgoing data stream, most likely using a matrix connection, and just like any other matrix connection, this one can be killed, jammed or whatever.

It doesn't need to: You have a memory of how your voice sounds like... but if you really want to keep it simple, it can use a voice-sample.

or the doc does the scan when the comlink is first implanted, and then feed said scan into the comlink as part of the implant-job.

or it could be that the comlink is able to read the shape and similar from the neural traffic of the throat area. or body is in a state of perpetual feedback loop, but much of the traffic we are not aware off.

btw, the sound we hear in our ears when talking, and what other people hear isnt the same...

There are 2 options.

1: The DNI not only grabs your "mental speech" but also gets the sound of your voice as you think of it. It won't sound exactly like you (kind of like how your voice sounds 'wrong" when you hear it replayed) but it will be a recognizeable and distinct internal voice that your friends will learn to recognize.

2. You teach your Comm your voice frequency and normal inflections and it takes your DNI input and synthesizes your voice. It wouldn't pass a voice-print but it'll probably be recognizeable to your friends as your voice.


I'd recommend going with 1. as it lets you pick up a Comm and immediately make DNI voice calls without spending time on "the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog."

Thought-to-voice shouldn't be that difficult compared to a lot of stuff in shadowrun. I would even say it'd be one of the first marketable uses of DNI technology and so is probably decades old, plenty of time for refinement.

In the interest of not having my speech pattern file sitting on my commlink for others to steal, I'd prefer commlinks to read the sound of my voice out of my thoughts.


Actually, scratch all that, based on the Free action Speak/Text Phrase (pg. 136) and the "Wireless World" fluff (pg. 205), I think you're limited to texting phrases via neural communication. Looks like voice communication still needs to be done via subvocal mic. Damn.

If nothing else, it should be no problem whatsoever to assign downloaded voice patterns to read your incoming text messages to you.

Fair enough. I still don't know if internal commlinks are worth the extra 2k. My cell phone fits in my pocket, so why would I want to put it in my head?

security. for when the joygirl/boy forgets to untie you, and walks off with your stuff. Also lets you carry around a dummy commlink that supports your fake SIN, while your 1337 hacking machine stays safely away from prying eyes.

yes

and what happens when they do a patdown and find your second comlink?

Big deal. They found a commlink. It's not illegal to carry one. What happens when they pull out a cyberware scanner? If we're speculating about capture, it's not much more difficult for them to pull out one of those head jammer things than it is to take away your commlink.

So if I have an internal commlink do I need anything to view or hear the data coming off of it? If someone sends me a picture of a monkey picking his nose do I see that, or do I need goggles or cyberwear image link?

What about inputting data? Do you need an external device (gloves, keyboard) or can you just think the commands in?

now i understand why some versions of the rules have internal comlinks listed with sim modules allready in place

Yeah, I think all of my characters had one until I had the epiphany of

"If I'm making a character that only needs commo capability while on runs, and he isn't the sneaky type (in other words, isn't going to care whether someone can see his comms gear), then I don't have to waste essence on commo implants."

I have no idea when this finally occurred to me, but I remember thinking "that took too long to realize".

it just hit me that the datajack is described as basicly having a transducer buildt in these days. and isnt a implant comlink described as having a datajack buildt into it?

apparently not.
it appears that it basicly says its a implant version of the normal comlink.
and given that the description the normal is quite general (the equipment/functions list starts with the word most) one cant realy say what functions a implant comlink does have, or not...