New 4.7 Inch iPhone SE; Washington Sate Sues Facebook Over Political Ads; Google-Emergency Fund for Local Journalism; Zoox Settles Lawsuit With Tesla

Apple has unveiled the expected smaller, cheaper iPhone. Macrumors.com reports the new iPhone SE has a 4.7 inch display, A13 Chip, and Touch ID. Best of all, it starts at $399 with 64 gigs of memory. The color selection is limited…black white, and (Product) RED. You can order your new SE starting this Friday, and it will be available at Apple Authorized retailers beginning April 24th. It does just have a single camera, but the Apple cam software should give you very good pictures considering that…it will support Portrait mode and Smart HDR.

The state of Washington has sued Facebook for violating its state political ad law. According to geekwire.com, this is the second lawsuit by the Washington Attorney General against Facebook for violating a law that requires any entity selling political ads to maintain a publicly available database of those ads and details on who purchased them. The first one, in 2018, was settled when the social network paid a $238,000 fine. The state also settled a similar suit against Google at that time. The new lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, claims Facebook sold ads to at least 171 political committees in Washington state, generating at least $525,000 in revenue. Those findings come from investigations by the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission and attorney general’s office. The ad disclosure law has been on the books in Washington state since the 1970’s.

Google is creating a Journalism Emergency Relief Fund to help support local newsrooms around the world. News departments had already been scuffling along when the coronavirus hit, causing ad revenue to evaporate. Venturebeat.com says Google is pointing to the fact that local news has become even more vital amid the widespread lockdowns aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19. Even though revenue has dropped, readership, listenership, and viewership is up notably as people seek out the latest virus info in their own area. Google hasn’t said what kind of cash they are pouring into the fund, but a similar one has been started by Facebook, which pledged $100 million. Local news organizations have until April 29th to apply for relief to the Google fund.

Self-driving car startup Zoox has settled a lawsuit with Tesla. According to reuters.com, the startup admitted some new hires poached from Tesla brought along certain Tesla documents. Tesla had alleged that the employees stole proprietary information and trade secrets for developing warehousing, logistics and inventory control operations. Zoox is required to pay an undisclosed amount in the settlement agreement, and also get an audit to ensure no employees have retained or are using confidential Tesla information.