Want to feel like a spy? Stick a smart chip in your manicure
1 min read
Summary
Following the broadcast of the season 3 reunion episode of Netflix’s The Ultimatum, tech reviewer James Vincent became alert when participant Zaina Sesay mentioned having text message proof via a microchip in her fingernail.
Interested in conducting a review of such a device, Vincent set about testing the NFC nail chip, priced at approximately 20,36 and $60 for sets of five, 10 and 20, respectively.
While the tiny square slips under a nail to allow the user to tap their phone to perform a number of functions, such as sending texts during meetings or ordering ahead at cafes, the reviewer encountered several problems.
These included difficulties scanning the chip and getting it to stick on the nail, eventually concluding that the best placement is on the underside edge of a medium-to-long press-on nail, sealed with several thin layers of brush-on nail glue to make it durable and water-resistant.
Although the chip can be programmed to more useful purposes via the Apple Shortcuts app, the reviewer concluded that, while it was cool and unsettling, the NFC nail chip required too much effort for ordinary people for limited payoff.