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

• Tesla to recall more than a million vehicles over ‘pinchy’ windows

• Moog once again revives the Model 10, its first compact modular synth

• Meta ordered to pay $175 million in patent infringement case

• Nothing reveals the charging case for its next earbuds

• The best smartphones you can buy right now

• 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.

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.

Meta is facing a hefty bill after losing a patent infringement lawsuit. A federal judge in Texas has ordered the company to pay Voxer, the developer of app called Walkie Talkie, nearly $175 million as an ongoing royalty. Voxer accused Meta of infringing its patents and incorporating that tech in Instagram Live and Facebook Live.

In 2006, Tom Katis, the founder of Voxer, started working on a way to resolve communications problems he faced while serving in the US Army in Afghanistan, as TechCrunch notes. Katis and his team developed tech that allows for live voice and video transmissions, which led to Voxer debuting the Walkie Talkie app in 2011.

According to the lawsuit, soon after Voxer released the app, Meta (then known as Facebook) approached the company about a collaboration. Voxer is said to have revealed its proprietary technology as well as its patent portfolio to Meta, but the two sides didn't reach an agreement. Voxer claims that even though Meta didn't have live video or voice services back then, it identified the Walkie Talkie developer as a competitor and shut down access to Facebook features such as the "Find Friends" tool.

Meta debuted Facebook Live in 2015. Katis claims to have had a chance meeting with a Facebook Live product manager in early 2016 to discuss the alleged infringements of Voxer's patents in that product, but Meta declined to reach a deal with the company. The latter released Instagram Live later that year. "Both products incorporate Voxer’s technologies and infringe its patents," Voxer claimed in the lawsuit.

Meta denied Voxer's claims in a statement to TechCrunch. It plans to fight the ruling. “We believe the evidence at trial demonstrated that Meta did not infringe Voxer’s patents,” a spokesperson said. “We intend to seek further relief, including filing an appeal.”

Starlink satellite internet access has already spread to boats and RVs, and now it might accompany your child on the way home from class. SpaceX told the FCC in a filing that it's piloting Starlink aboard school buses in the rural US. The project would keep students connected during lengthy rides (over an hour in the pilot), ensuring they can complete internet-related homework in a timely fashion even if broadband is slow or non-existent at home.

The spaceflight company simultaneously backed FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel's May proposal to bring WiFi to school buses, and said it supported the regulator's efforts to fund school and library internet access through the E-Rate program. To no one's surprise, SpaceX felt it had the best solution thanks to rapid satellite deployment, portable dishes and fast service for the "most remote" areas.

We've asked the FCC and SpaceX for comment, and will let you know if they respond. The pitch comes just two months after the FCC cleared the use of Starlink in vehicles, noting that it would serve the "public interest" to keep people online while on the move. The concept isn't new — Google outfitted school buses with WiFi in 2018 following tests, for example.

There's no guarantee the FCC will embrace SpaceX and fund bus-based Starlink service. The Commission rejected SpaceX's request for $885.5 million in help through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, and the firm responded by blasting the rejection as "grossly unfair" and allegedly unsupported by evidence. Satellite internet service theoretically offers more consistent rural coverage than cellular data, though, and Starlink competitors like Amazon's Project Kuiper have yet to deploy in earnest.

Meta has finally 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, from Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), found that Facebook and Instagram violated Palestinians’ right to free expression.

“Based on the data reviewed, examination of individual cases and related materials, and external stakeholder engagement, Meta’s actions in May 2021 appear 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,” BSR writes in its report.

The report also notes that “an examination of individual cases” showed that some Israeli accounts were also erroneously banned or restricted during this period. But the report's authors highlight several systemic issues they say disproportionately affected Palestinians.

According to the report, “Arabic content had greater over-enforcement,” and “proactive detection rates of potentially violating Arabic content were significantly higher than proactive detection rates of potentially violating Hebrew content.” The report also notes that Meta had an internal tool for detecting “hostile speech” in Arabic, but not in Hebrew, and that Meta’s systems and moderators had lower accuracy when assessing Palestinian Arabic.

As a result, many users’ accounts were hit with “false strikes,” and wrongly had posts removed by Facebook and Instagram. “These strikes remain in place for those users that did not appeal erroneous content removals,” the report notes.

Meta had commissioned the report following a recommendation from the Oversight Board last fall. In a response to the report, Meta says it will update some of its policies, including several aspects of its Dangerous Individuals and Organizations (DOI) policy. The company says it’s “started a policy development process to review our definitions of praise, support and representation in our DOI Policy,” and that it’s “working on ways to make user experiences of our DOI strikes simpler and more transparent.”

Meta also notes it has “begun experimentation on building a dialect-specific Arabic classifier” for written content, and that it has changed its internal process for managing keywords and “block lists” that affect content removals.

Notably, Meta says it’s “assessing the feasibility” of a recommendation that it notify users when it places “feature limiting and search limiting” on users’ accounts after they receive a strike. Instagram users have long complained that the app shadowbans or reduces the visibility of their account when they post about certain topics. These complaints increased last spring when users reported that they were barred from posting about Palestine, or that the reach of their posts was diminished. At the time, Meta blamed an unspecified “glitch.” BSR’s report notes that the company had also implemented emergency “break glass” measures that temporarily throttled all “repeatedly reshared content.”