[shadowkras]

And no, im not talking about a DNI (Direct Neural Interface).

The game says (p241):

Besides their wireless functionality, almost all cyberware
devices are equipped with a neural interface (not
to be confused with DNI) that lets you mentally activate
and control their functions.

Well, I know what is a DNI (page 222), but there is absolute no mention of "neural interface" that doesn't have "direct" in front of it anywhere else in the book.

[Jack_Spade]

Just means it's not useable to go into VR mode.

[HP15BS]

I read that to simply mean that you don't require any other tech to interface with it, and it can't be used to interface with anything else.

DNIs are like USBs while this is like a permanent built-in connection.

[Kiirnodel]

It's right there in your quote, it is a feature that "lets you mentally activate and control their functions."

DNI let's you control matrix systems, a cyberlimb's neural interface is just something that let's you control that limb like a normal limb.

It basically just means you can't use cyberlimbs as an access to having DNI over anything else.

...but HP15BS beat me to that...

[shadowkras]

That makes sense. It's like a DNI that is even more direct, but to avoid redundancy on the naming, they called it an NI.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Originally, they were all DNI, but then the entire 'DNI' thing became something of a shortcut for 'I can deck through this', and frankly, you shouldn't be decking (or being able to be hacked) by way of someone's cyberarm, so ...

If you like, a standard neural interface (SNI) is akin to a baseline nervous system, as appropriate for the piece of ware you have.  Like Kiirnodel says, it lets you use your cyberarm like an arm, use a trained 'pseudo-muscle' effort to pop out its spurs, or to try to make an 'impossible hand gesture' to open up the palm-port for your cybergun.  It lets your cybereyes focus, lets you 'pinch' certain eye muscles in certain ways to switch overlays, that sort of thing.  Or wired reflexes, or (maybe) the switch-over to your rigger wires.  Most of these are not actually tied into the standard 'thinking' portion of your brain; they'd work through you trying to do something, or a sequence of somethings, which you can't (or don't) normally do.

Compare this to the direct neural interface (DNI), which instead of patching into the limbic &c. systems, patches into ... I guess your cerebrum and cerebellum?  I'm not up-to-date on (or have forgotten) which portions of brain house 'conscious thought'.  But that's generally the key -- conscious, intentional thought.  That's where you hack from, where you turn your attention from, all that sort of thing.