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You now have a way to show your disapproval of hurtful (or simply pointless) TikTok comments. In the wake of a test this spring, TikTok has started the global rollout for a comment 'dislike' button. As with other social networks, you can tap a thumbs-down button to express your displeasure, or undo the action if you've had second thoughts.

The company bills the feature as another way to get feedback regarding "irrelevant or inappropriate" comments. Ideally, a comment with a large volume of dislikes will warn TikTok about hate speech, spam or trolling that it might otherwise miss. That, in turn, could promote healthier comment sections.

Before you ask: yes, TikTok is aware of the potential for abuse. Like YouTube, TikTok won't show dislike counts. A mob might have less incentive to downvote comments it disagrees with. TikTok hasn't said if it will crack down against misuses of the button, but we've asked the company for clarification.

This isn't the only moderation tool at TikTok's disposal, and the combined resources could help the company get a handle on comment sections that all too frequently go downhill. With that in mind, it's not clear how effective the dislike button might be given TikTok's challenges with enforcing its policies. TikTok still has problems controlling misinformation, for instance. Dislikes might help, but they don't represent a surefire fix.

NVIDIA is looking to take the sting out of creating virtual 3D worlds with a new artificial intelligence model. GET3D can generate characters, buildings, vehicles and other types of 3D objects, NVIDIA says. The model should be able to whip up shapes quickly too. The company notes that GET3D can generate around 20 objects per second using a single GPU.

Researchers trained the model using synthetic 2D images of 3D shapes taken from multiple angles. NVIDIA says it took just two days to feed around 1 million images into GET3D using A100 Tensor Core GPUs.

The model can create objects with "high-fidelity textures and complex geometric details," NVIDIA's Isha Salian wrote in a blog post. The shapes GET3D makes "are in the form of a triangle mesh, like a papier-mâché model, covered with a textured material," Salian added.

Users should be able to swiftly import the objects into game engines, 3D modelers and film renderers for editing, as GET3D will create them in compatible formats. That means it could be much easier for developers to create dense virtual worlds for games and the metaverse. NVIDIA cited robotics and architecture as other use cases.

The company said that, based on a training dataset of car images, GET3D was able to generate sedans, trucks, race cars and vans. It can also churn out foxes, rhinos, horses and bears after being trained on animal images. As you might expect, NVIDIA notes that the larger and more diverse the training set that's fed into GET3D, "the more varied and detailed the output."

With the help of another NVIDIA AI tool, StyleGAN-NADA, it's possible to apply various styles to an object with text-based prompts. You might apply a burned-out look to a car, convert a model of a home into a haunted house or, as a video showing off the tech suggests, apply tiger stripes to any animal.

The NVIDIA Research team that created GET3D believes future versions could be trained on real-world images instead of synthetic data. It may also be possible to train the model on various types of 3D shapes at once, rather than having to focus on one object category at a given time.

Surprise! The iPhone 14 is pretty repairable, it turns out. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra chat with Engadget’s Sam Rutherford about this move towards greater repairability and what it means for future iPhones. Also, they dive into NVIDIA’s powerful (and expensive!) new RTX 4080 and 4090 GPUs. Sure, they’re faster than before, but does anyone really need all that power?

Listen above, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!

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Topics

• The iPhone 14 is surprisingly repairable – 1:17

• NVIDIA announces RTX 4090 and 4080 GPUs (and a Portal mod with ray tracing) – 21:08

• Huge hack at Rockstar leaks GTA 6 videos and dev code – 34:22

• Uber was also hacked last week by the same crew that hit Rockstar – 38:37

• Windows 11 2022 Update – 40:21

• Google is offering a $30 1080p HDR Chrome cast with Google TV – 44:05

• Does anyone need the Logitech G cloud gaming handset? – 46:59

• Twitch is banning gambling streams on October 18 – 51:56

• Working on – 55:34

• Pop culture picks – 1:01:35

Livestream

Credits
Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar
Guest: Sam Rutherford
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien
Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos
Graphic artists: Luke Brooks and Brian Oh

Google has unveiled another streaming dongle. The Chromecast with Google TV (HD) device manages to offer a lot of the features from the $50 4K model at a significantly cheaper $30 price. Unlike the older $35 Chromecast, it comes with a remote control that eliminates the need for a smartphone, though you can still control it with your phone. There is a drawback – that lower 1080p resolution – but there’s HDR support. It also comes with six months of Peacock Premium, free.

The lack of a remote controller was a frustration for many people looking for a plug-and-stream stick, and at this price, it’s a pretty tempting streaming solution if you haven’t already picked up a Chromecast, Roku or something else.

– Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

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• NASA and Hideo Kojima team up for a Ludens-inspired watch

• Yale's redesigned door lock will be one of the first Matter-compatible smart home devices

• ByteDance's Pico reveals its latest VR headset as it aims to compete with Meta Quest 2

Apple’s 2nd-gen AirPods Pro review

Big improvements, all on the inside.

Engadget

Yes, they still have stems. Yes, there’s still active noise cancellation. Yes, they might be worth upgrading from the original AirPods Pro. Apple has included of the conveniences from the 2019 model, alongside additions like Adaptive Transparency, Personalized Spatial Audio and a new touch gesture in tow. There’s room to further refine the familiar formula, so read on for the full review.

Continue reading.

This $799 turntable can connect to any Sonos speaker

If you love vinyl and streaming music, the Stream Carbon might be for you.

Victrola

A lot of connected smart speakers don’t work with turntables, which can make things complicated during the continued resurgence of vinyl. Victrola, which has made record players for more than 100 years, is mostly known for entry-level turntables with built-in speakers, but it’s now revealed the Stream Carbon, a $799 turntable that can directly connect to a Sonos system, which means you’ll be able to stream your records all over your home. Victrola says this is just the first of more planned devices in the Stream lineup.

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The FDA may have unintentionally made 'NyQuil Chicken' go viral on TikTok

TikTok says interest spiked only after the FDA's warning.

You’ve probably heard something about “NyQuil Chicken,” a supposedly viral TikTok “challenge” of cooking chicken in a marinade of cold medicine. Not only disgusting, as the FDA recently reminded the public, it’s just as toxic as it looks. The agency’s bizarrely timed warning may have backfired, making the meme more popular than ever. TikTokconfirmed that on September 14th, the day before the FDA notice, there were only five searches for “NyQuil chicken” in the app. But by September 21st, that number skyrocketed “by more than 1,400 times,” according to BuzzFeed News.

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Instagram is working on 'nudity protection' technology

It’s focused on unwanted DMs.

An early screengrab tweeted by researcher Alessandro Paluzzi indicates that Instagram is working on "Nudity protection" technology that "covers photos that may contain nudity in chat," giving users the option to view them or not. Instagram parent Meta confirmed to The Verge that it's in development. Meta said the aim is to help shield people from nude images or other unsolicited messages. As further protection, the company said it can't view the images itself nor share them with third parties.

Continue reading.

Facebook violated Palestinians' right to free expression, according to Meta

Many users' accounts were hit with "false strikes" last year due to Meta's policies.

Meta has released the findings of an outside report that examined how its content moderation policies affected Israelis and Palestinians amid an escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip last May. The report said that Facebook’s approach appears “to have had an adverse human rights impact on the rights of Palestinian users to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, political participation, and non-discrimination, and therefore on the ability of Palestinians to share information and insights about their experiences as they occurred.”

Continue reading.

Amazon's Echo Show smart displays with Alexa voice control are already a good value next to the competition, but a bunch of deals are making them even cheaper. The Show 5 is the best one, on sale right now for just $40, or 53 percent off the regular price. And if you want a larger screen, you can find great deals on the Show 8 and Show 15 — including a free Show 5 with the latter. 

The Echo Show 5 scored a very solid 85 score in our Engadget review, as it's small size is ideal if don't have a ton of space on your desk, nightstand or countertop. It has a 5.5-inch, 960 x 480 resolution display that shows things like weather forecasts, calendar events, photos and more. 

The 2MP camera can be used to video chat with friends and family, but it can also be used as a makeshift security camera of sorts. And if you prefer you're concerned about privacy, the Show 5 has a built-in camera shutter and mic mute button. It was already a good deal at $85, but at $40, it's a no-brainer. And if you're thinking of getting that model for a youngster, the Echo Show 5 Kids with parental controls is also on sale for $50, or 47 percent off the regular $95 price.

Engadget

If it's a larger screen you're after, the Echo Show 8 also scored high in our review, thanks to the elegant minimalist design, vibrant 1,280 x 800 resolution display and handy video calling functionality. The digital pan-and-zoom face-tracking feature follows you while you move around to keep you in frame, and works with every video calling app out there. It also offers stereo speakers, making it one of the best-sounding smart displays available. You can pick one up for $80, just above the lowest price we've seen.

With a big 15-inch screen, the Echo Show 15 is the big daddy of Amazon's smart display products. You can of course use it to control compatible smart home devices and link it to Echo speakers for richer audio. Family members can have their own profiles, using voice ID and face-recognition to access personalized content like reminders, appointments and music. The only downside is that it doesn't come with a stand as it's meant to be wall mounted. Still, you can grab one for $250 (an $85 discount), and Amazon is throwing in a free Echo 5 to boot. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

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Starting next year, you'll only be able to activate newly released Fitbit models using a Google account. It doesn't come as a surprise for Google's services to become more intertwined with Fitbit's fitness devices after the tech giant acquired the latter for $2.1 billion in 2021. But now, we have a timeline for when Fitbit accounts will no longer be essential. As spotted by 9to5Google, Fitbit has revealed in its help page that it will launch support for Google accounts in 2023. Signing up for Fitbit and activating new devices will require the use of a Google account after that.

In addition, the brand will completely end support for Fitbit accounts sometime in early 2025, after which a Google account will be required to use its fitness devices and smartwatches. Fitbit promises that it will be transparent and will notify you of the exact date through notifications in its app, by email and in help articles. To ensure a smooth transition, it will enable the option to move your current Fitbit device to a Google account as soon as support arrives next year. You'll also have the opportunity to make changes to your Fitbit data when making the move. If you do link a device to a Google account, you'll be able to manage your Fitbit data both from the brand's app and from your Google settings. 

Fitbit says its parent company made binding commitments not to use your health and wellness data for ads and will keep that information separate from what it does send to advertisers. The tech giant had insisted from the time it announced the acquisition that it will not be using Fitbit data for ad targeting. In 2020, it formally made the commitment to the European Commission to ward off an antitrust probe. 

Apple released its latest iPhone lineup and mobile platforms earlier this month, and a couple of annoying bugs quickly made themselves known to users. The good news is that the tech giant has quickly whipped up patches to fix the issues and has now released them as part of the iOS 16.0.2 update. One of the problems the update solves is the iPhone 14 Pro's compatibility troubles with third-party apps that use its camera, such as Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat. 

Users found that when they fire up those apps and use the device's rear cam, the camera view shakes on screen and the phone emanates grinding and rattling noises. In its patch notes, Apple said the update fixes an issue wherein the "[c]amera may vibrate and cause blurry photos when shooting with some third-party apps on iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max." The company didn't elaborate on the cause behind it, but it's possible that the apps weren't meshing well with the device's optical image stabilization system, causing the rattling noises. 

Another troublesome problem the update fixes is the persistent appearance of permission prompts when trying to copy and paste content between apps. Apple senior manager Ron Huang previously admitted that it was "absolutely not expected behavior" and said the company was dealing with it. iOS 16.0.2 will get rid of other bugs, as well, including one that causes the device's display to go black during setup and another that renders the touch input on some iPhone X, iPhone XR and iPhone 11 displays to be unresponsive after they're serviced. 

If you’ve been anywhere near social media, local news, or late-night talk shows in the last few days, you’ve probably heard something about “Nyquil Chicken,” a supposedly viral TikTok “challenge” that’s exactly what it sounds like: cooking chicken in a marinade of cold medicine.

News about the supposed trend is usually accompanied by vomit-inducing photos of raw chicken simmering in dark green syrup. It’s both disgusting and, as the FDA recently reminded the public, just as toxic as it looks. But it turns out Nyquil Chicken was neither new, nor particularly viral, and the FDA’s bizarrely-timed warning may have backfired, making the meme more popular than ever.

First, a bit of history: As reporter Ryan Borderick points out in his newsletter Garbage Day, Nyquil Chicken originated as a joke on 4Chan in 2017. The meme briefly resurfaced in January where it got some traction on TikTok before once again fading away.

Then, last week, the FDA — inexplicably — issued a press release warning about the dangers of cooking chicken in Nyquil. In a notice titled “A Recipe for Danger: Social Media Challenges Involving Medicines,” the FDA refers to it as a “recent” trend. But they cite no recent examples, and it’s unclear why they opted to push out a warning more than eight months after the meme had first appeared on TikTok.

Screenshot / TikTok

Now, in what we can only hope will be a valuable lesson on unintended consequences, we know that it was likely the FDA’s warning about Nyquil chicken that pushed this “challenge” to new levels of virality, at least on TikTok. TikTok has now confirmed that on September 14th, the day before the FDA notice, there were only five searches for “Nyquil chicken” in the app. But by September 21st, that number skyrocketed “by more than 1,400 times,” according to BuzzFeed News, which first reported the TikTok search data.

TikTok, which has recently taken steps to limit the spread of both dangerous “challenges” and “alarmist warnings” about hoaxes, is now blocking searches for “Nyquil Chicken.” Searches now direct users to resources encouraging users to “stop and take a moment to think” before pursuing a potentially dangerous “challenge.”

As both BuzzFeed and Gizmodo note, there’s little evidence that people are actually cooking chicken in Nyquil, much less actually ingesting it. That’s a good thing because, as the FDA makes very clear, doing so is not only extremely gross, but highly toxic. But the whole thing is yet another example of why we should all be more skeptical of panic-inducing viral “challenges.”

Felix Krause's discovery that Meta's Facebook and Instagram apps can track iPhone owners across websites hasn't sat well with some people. Bloombergreports users have filed two proposed class action lawsuits accusing Meta of evading Apple's privacy-oriented App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature and consequently violating both federal and state laws barring unauthorized data gathering. Meta supposedly created a workaround by injecting tracking code into websites when you use its in-app browser, letting it monitor activity regardless of whether or not you gave permission to the app.

Apple introduced App Tracking Transparency as part of the iOS 14.5 update released in April 2021. The technology lets you ask apps not to track you, and requires that you explicitly opt in. Meta has been vocal in its opposition. It encouraged users to allow tracking, and warned that ATT might cost it $10 billion in ad revenue this year.

Meta rejected the allegations in a statement to Engadget. The company said both lawsuits were "without merit," and that it would defend itself "vigorously." It further claimed its in-app browsers honor privacy decisions, including for ads.

The lawsuits aren't certain to obtain class action status, which could lead to compensation for many users. Whether or not the suits are successful, they illustrate the tension between Meta, Apple and privacy advocates — Meta is determined to preserve the targeted advertising that fuels its business, even as critics and rival companies raise more objections.