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After previously investing in Mulesoft, it looks like Salesforce may finish off the deal and is in advanced talks to acquire the data management software provider altogether, according to a report from Reuters this morning.

Mulesoft works with companies to bring together different sources of data like varying APIs. That’s important for companies that have data coming in from all over the place, whether that’s online applications or actual devices, and the company says it has Netflix and Spotify as customers. It would also give Salesforce another piece of the lock-in puzzle for enterprises that need to increasingly manage larger and larger pools of data as they look to start pumping out machine learning tools that can act on all that data.

As usual, these talks could fall apart — we saw this happen with Twitter a few years ago after the company looked at buying what was essentially the largest customer service channel on the planet (as in, great for whining at brands) — but Reuters reports that the deal could be announced as soon as this week. Mulesoft’s stock jumped nearly 20% this year after it went public last year amid a wave of enterprise IPOs jumping through the so-called IPO window while it’s open.

Salesforce is increasingly making a push into AI with products like Einstein, which it launched in 2016. Those tools give businesses predictive services and recommendations, a hallmark of what can come out of increasing piles of data based on customer activity. But all of that data has to come from somewhere, and for now, there are providers outside of the Salesforce ecosystem that stitch all that together. Having it all in one central place makes it easier to parse them through these machine learning algorithms and start building predictive models for their operations.

We reached out to Salesforce and Mulesoft for comment and will update the post when we hear back.

AR-enabled shopping is expanding again today. This time, online furniture retailer Wayfair is introducing an augmented reality feature in its mobile app for Android that will allow customers to visualize furniture in their own home ahead of purchase, just by holding up their smartphone.

The feature, called “View in Room 3D,” was previously available on iOS, leveraging Apple’s AR platform ARKit.

Now, Wayfair is taking advantage of Google’s ARCore to offer the same option to Android users.

ARCore, Google’s answer to Apple’s AR platform, was publicly released last month, giving developers a way to integrate AR technology into their Android applications, where they can reach a potential audience of over 100 million Android devices.

Wayfair is not the only shopping site to quickly roll out ARCore support now that it’s available – eBay yesterday launched a feature for sellers that helps them find the right shipping box using AR technology, and promised other AR-enabled features this year. IKEA also just released an Android version of its AR app IKEA Place this week.

Other retailers have been experimenting with AR, as well, including Amazon and Target.

Retailers’ interest in AR is not just because it’s new and trendy – it can help them address the real issue that online shoppers face, when trying to buy furniture from a website, instead of in person.

It’s often difficult for non-designers to really get a sense of what a piece of furniture will look like when placed in the room. Will the new sofa go well with the existing curtains, carpet, and other furniture? Will it fit in the space?

Wayfair’s app helps with those questions, as it projects the furniture or décor in 3D at full-scale, and anchors them to the floor. This lets shoppers see if the object in question fits in the room – without needing to break out their measuring tape. It also helps them get a visual sense of what the room will look like with the new furniture added.

And because the image is in 3D, you can walk around it to see it from different sides – which also helps with consumers’ buying decisions.

“Leveraging augmented reality, the Wayfair app allows shoppers to transform their homes into virtual showrooms, allowing them to see their favorite products up close and at every angle – all in their very own space,” said Steve Conine, co-founder and co-chairman, Wayfair, in statement about the AR feature’s release.

“We knew early on that augmented reality had the potential to completely transform the way people shop for their homes, and as it’s quickly moved toward mainstream adoption, we’re excited to have played an integral role in shaping the experience for millions of shoppers,” he added.

Furniture has been one of the more difficult businesses to transition online, not only because of shipping costs for heavy items, but also because consumers still often want to see the products in real life. They want to touch the fabric, try out a chair’s cushions for comfort, and see the true colors – not just an online photo.

But things are changing, as more commerce shifts online – the channel that’s prefered by millennial shoppers, who are now the largest demographic (37%) of the furniture-buying market.

Wayfair is one of the companies capitalizing on this shift, to the tune of $4.7 billion in net revenue in 2017.

And with the elimination of the furniture showroom, it’s also been quick to jump on new technologies to help its customers better shop, including web-based clipboards, visual search, mobile messaging, and now, AR – all which give it a competitive advantage versus traditional retailers with more static sites.

The company also recently updated the AR feature in the iOS app that lets customers now record a video of the item in AR, instead of just taking a photo. This feature has a Snapchat-like feel, as you just press and hold the record button to make the recording. You can then walk around the furniture in the video, in order to capture it in 3D then share with friends and family.

This feature will arrive in the Android version soon, we understand.

In the meantime, the Wayfair app for Android is available here.

Game controller compatibility is a labyrinthine nightmare most of the time: Some controllers work with some platforms some of the time, but it’s very hard to keep track of how and when. 8bitdo’s latest accessory adds some simplicity to the mix, enabling use of Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch controllers with Switch, Windows and macOS systems quickly and easily.

Yes, that means you can play your PC or Mac games with your favorite Xbox One X/S or DualShock 3/4 controller, or even use a Joy-Con. It also means that you can use a DualShock controller to play Breath of the Wild on the Switch, ion that’s what you want to do.

The USB dongle also works with Android TV hardware, and with Raspberry Pi-based devices. It supports DualShock 4 vibration and 6-axis motion control on Switch, and it works lag-free for low latency gaming requirements. It’s also a tiny bit smaller than either the dedicated Xbox or PlayStation dedicated PC wireless controller USB adapters (and supports a broader range of platforms).

Oh, and it’s also just $20 from Amazon. I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks now and it performs exactly as advertised. If you’re looking to cut down your controller clutter or just have a strong preference for once design over another, this is definitely a smart buy.

Lyft has brought on Nilka Thomas to join the company as its new vice president of talent and inclusion . At Lyft, Thomas will be tasked with overseeing recruiting, inclusion, diversity and employee relations.

Most importantly, in my eyes, is that Thomas will “Ensure that inclusion and diversity efforts are seamlessly integrated from the earliest candidate touch points,” Lyft wrote on its blog.

Nilka Thomas, Lyft VP of Talent and Inclusion

Prior to joining Lyft, Thomas spent more than ten years at Google, as part of the company’s recruitment and business growth teams. Thomas is now the highest-ranking member of the Lyft team that is focused on inclusion and diversity.

In September 2016, Lyft brought on Tariq Meyers to serve as its first-ever head of inclusion and diversity. Within his first year on the job, Lyft released its first diversity report, which showed numbers that comparable to the likes of Uber, Facebook and Google.

At a high level, Lyft is 63 percent white, 19 percent Asian, 6 percent black and 7 percent Latinx. Lyft, like many other companies, did not report data regarding the employment of LGBTQ people, people with disabilities and intersectionality. That’s notable in light of Lyft facing a discrimination lawsuit over its lack of wheelchair-accessible options for people with disabilities.

Earlier this month, Disability Rights Advocates, on behalf of the Independent Living Resource Center and two people who use wheelchairs, filed a class-action lawsuit today against Lyft. The plaintiffs allege the ride-hailing company discriminates against people who use wheelchairs by not making available wheelchair-accessible cars in the San Francisco Bay Area. In a statement to TechCrunch, Lyft said,

There is no doubt that those living with disabilities face significant transportation challenges — challenges that have existed for decades. Since Lyft was founded in 2012, we have sought to increase access to transportation around the country for underserved populations, including those living with disabilities.  We currently have partnerships and programs in place to provide enhanced WAV access in various parts of the country, and are actively exploring ways to expand them nationwide.

In addition to bringing on a VP of talent and inclusion, Lyft has also hired a director of sustainability. Sam Arons, who is also a former Google employee, is tasked with helping Lyft do its part to address global climate change.

Google today announced a multi-pronged News Initiative, which Chief Business Officer Phillipp Schindler described as a way to tie together all the company’s efforts to work with the journalism industry.

Google says the News Initiative is focused on three broad goals — strengthening quality journalism, supporting different business models and empowering newsrooms through technological innovation. It’s also committing to spend $300 million over the next three years on its various journalism-related projects.

At a New York City press event, Schindler told journalists and other industry attendees, “Our mission is inherently tied to your business.” He acknowledged that this might sound like “big company rhetoric.” To put it less diplomatically, news organizations might not view Google or the other big Internet platforms as allies given their dominance of the online ad business and the role they play in spreading sensationalistic or questionable stories, not to mention misinformation and hoaxes.

However, Schindler said Google has “two clear business incentives” to support high quality journalism.

First, he said Google search “by its very nature depends on the open web and depends on open access to information and that obviously depends on high quality information.” Second, he noted that Google’s DoubleClick ad business is all about splitting revenue with publishers, with $12.6 billion paid out to partners last year.

“The economics are very clear: If you do not grow, we do not grow,” Schindler said.

Again, the initiative sounds like a mix of projects and products old and new, in several different categories. When it comes to strengthening quality journalism, Schindler said Google has already been adjusting its algorithms to prioritize “more authoritative sources,” and it’s also highlighting verified sources in its results with a Top News section.

Schindler also announced a partnership with the Harvard Kennedy School’s First Draft to launch something called the Disinfo Lab, which will “use computational tools and journalistic oversight to monitor misinformation during elections.” And there’s a separate project called MediaWise, a partnership with the Poynter Institute, Stanford University and the Local Media Association to help younger people become more “literate” in their consumption of digital media.

As for business models, Google is launching Subscribe with Google, which will allow readers to sign up for paid subscriptions from partner publishers with a single click. That means that as long as readers are signed in to their Google account, they don’t have to deal with paywalls and logins on the news sites that they’ve already subscribed to.

Google has also created a News Consumer Insights dashboard on top of Google Analytics, designed to help publishers improve subscription revenue by analyzing and segmenting their audiences.

On the tech front, Google pointed to Accelerated Mobile Pages, its open source format for fast-loading articles, which it’s expanding with a new story format for image-, video- and animation-heavy content. The company is also launching Outline, an open source tool for newsrooms to provide their journalists with secure Internet access by setting up their own VPNs on private servers.

This is a developing story and will be updated as Google’s event continues.

With little fuss or fanfare, Cleo, the London-based startup that offers an AI-powered chatbot as a replacement for your banking apps, has begun quietly offering its service to U.S. customers. Just 21 days in, I understand the U.K. fintech is already signing up 1,000 users across the pond per day.

Described as an “alpha version” by the chatbot itself (see screenshot below), the U.S. version sees Cleo add support for 647 banks and counting, a reflection of how fragmented the banking market in the U.S. is. As you’d expect, Cleo keeps the same conversational interface as its U.K. counterpart, albeit with what I’m told is a developing U.S. dialect (and selection of Gifs!). You can ask for and receive insights into your spending across multiple accounts and credit cards, broken down by transaction, category or merchant.

In addition, Cleo also lets you take a number of actions, including some based on the financial data it has gleaned. You can send money to your Facebook Messenger contacts via Cleo, donate to charity, and set spending goals and alerts and other fun financial antics.

The bigger picture is to offer Cleo’s mostly millennial users a more accessible and intelligent way to manage their money, and ultimately become their default financial control centre, including recommending ways to save money and automatically switching to the best value products, whether that be financial or other services such as utilities.

It is a proposition that appears to be resonating with users. In the U.K., Cleo now claims more than 150,000 users, while I understand, following the startup’s stealthy, although tentative, U.S. expansion it is on track for 200,000 users globally. A source tells me the company is also eyeing up further international moves, citing Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Singapore, and South Africa as next up on the road map.

What is fascinating now that we can see Cleo’s global ambitions begin to play out is the potential speed the U.K. startup can move because of the decision not to become a bank in its own right, which would otherwise bring significant capital and regulatory friction, not least in the fragmented U.S. market.

Cleo co-founder Barney Hussey-Yeo has always said that it is better to focus on building a better and smarter UI/UX than re-inventing the current account itself, even if the ultimate goal is somewhat the same. Or, to put it more simply, he argues that “nobody needs to be a bank to replace your banking app“.

The fallout from the story concerning Facebook, Cambridge Analytica, the misuse of personal data and how much Facebook knew about all this, has quickly made its way into the halls of government.

Bloomberg is reporting that the Federal Trade Commission is opening a probe into Facebook and the misuse of personal data, related to a consent decree that was issued in 2011 over the social network’s personal data handling policies.

Also today, Damian Collins, a member of parliament who is the chair of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport select committee in the UK, has issued a request to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to provide oral evidence to the committee. Meanwhile, Mark Warner, the U.S. Senator who is vice chair of the Intelligence Committee, has also requested that Zuckerberg, along with other tech CEOs, testify in order to answer questions about Facebook’s role in “social manipulation” in the 2016 election.

The FTC has not yet responded to our requests for comment, and it has not publicly confirmed if it is probing Facebook. The original decree was made as a settlement to an inquiry at the time into how Facebook — then just a startup but growing wildly fast — “deceived consumers by telling them they could keep their information on Facebook private, and then repeatedly allowing it to be shared and made public,” and it arose specifically in relation to how third-party apps were able to use and access this data. This is key because the original survey that users filled out was, in fact, an app of sorts, linking into Facebook by way of its API.

The idea behind the FTC settlement in 2011 was to ensure that Facebook made its privacy and data handling policies clear to consumers going forward, and to get their “express consent” before information is shared beyond the privacy settings those users established.

Specific details of the 2011 decree included barring Facebook from making misrepresentations about privacy and security of personal information; getting user consent before making change that override privacy preferences; preventing material to be shared after an account was deleted or deactivated; and maintaining a privacy program assessing risks and getting this audited every two years.

The decree also notes that it will terminate 20 years from the date of being issued, but that it will renew for another 20 years each time that the FTC files a complaint over any violations — meaning, if the FTC does file a complaint and is successful in determining the violation, it will prolong Facebook’s own need to report and make clear privacy policies to its users.

Committees call on Zuck to speak for the company.

Warner’s public call for Zuckerberg to speak, delivered earlier this morning by way of a Tweet, was not the first time that the Intel Committee has requested Zuckerberg to testify: it had also invited him to the original hearing in November of last year, where lawyers were sent instead.

Meanwhile, Collins’ invitation also comes in the wake of other requests for top Facebook executives, for hearings that the DCMS has held both in London and, just weeks ago, in Washington in an attempt to attract more senior executives to participate.

“The Committtee has repeatedly asked Facebook about how companies acquire and hold on to user data from their site, and in particular about whether data had been taken without their consent,” Collins writes in his letter. “Your officials’ answers have consistently understated this risk, and have been misleading to the Committee. It is now time to hear from a senior Facebook executive with the sufficient authority to give an accurate account of this catastrophic failure of process.”

Indeed, the thinking now seems to be that the increased attention, and the revelations in the media, will now force Facebook’s hand a bit more than before.

The summons to give evidence before the parliamentary committee or Congress are not legally binding, but they are significant for other reasons.

For one, they provide a moment to hear Zuckerberg give live responses to questions as they are presented to him: up to now, a lot of what we’ve heard from the CEO on the subject of Facebook and its position in the wider issue of elections, fake news and the use of social media help achieve certain outcomes, has largely come in the form of long Facebook posts by him, with little in the way of dialogue (which is in itself a little ironic when you consider the whole point of Facebook is supposed to be about engagement).

While there are no direct legal ramifications for testifying, what it does do is provide more evidence for lawmakers. At a time when we have relatively light regulation for social media and how it handles data in the US, this could become a critical moment where we may start to see more calls and efforts to start to regulate this area of digital media more carefully.

A third reason why testifying is notable is because of the optics: for a lot of people who do not understand and care much about the intricacies of how social networks handle their data, this could bring new light to the topic, on both sides of the table. Perhaps especially important for Zuckerberg if he’s truly considering a run for public office sometime in the future, as some have reported.

One of the better 360-degree cameras out there just got a lot better: The Insta360 One, a standalone 4K 360 camera with a built-in iPhone or Android hardware connector now supports FlowState onboard stabilization. This provides much better automatic stabilization than the Insta360 One supported at launch, and enables a bunch of new editing and formatting features that really improve the value proposition of the $299 gadget.

As you can see above, FlowState allows you to do a lot more with your footage after the fact, including creating smooth pans across footage for exporting to more standard vertical and wide-angle formats (since it’s very rare that people actually watch all that much true 360-degree footage). The changes make Insta360’s device a lot more like the Rylo camera in use, and more suitable for action sports and other adventure-friendly uses.

Users can now add transition points in the mobile app to create dynamic camera angle changes, and also set object or person active tracking. There’s a hyper lapse feature that speeds up time for pulling more action out of even leisurely bike rides, and you can also take over manually to basically direct the experience as if you were shooting it in real time with a traditional video camera, including doing things like zooming.

This update will be pushed out via the updated Insta360 app, and will require a firmware update for existing cameras. It’s a big upgrade for existing users, and a compelling reason to pick this up if you’re looking for something that’s easy to use, compatible with a range of mounts (it has a standard tripod screw mount in its base) and relatively affordable (cheaper than a GoPro Hero 6).

According to this report, Ford is pursuing a deal to purchase the abandoned Michigan Central Station. Located just outside downtown Detroit, the massive transit station has sat empty for about 30 years and recently became a symbol representing a decaying Detroit.

Crain’s is reporting that the deal between Ford and the current owner, the Moroun family, could be announced as soon as next month.

This would be Ford’s second recent investment in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood. Three months ago Ford announced it would put 200 employees in The Factory, a building less than a half a mile from Michigan Central Station. A redeveloped train station could house 1,000 Ford workers. Ford currently houses most of its employees in facilities around the Detroit suburb of Dearborn.

This neighborhood is just outside the downtown core of Detroit. Amtrak last used the station in 1988 and it has since changed hands several times. It’s currently owned by the Moroun family which spent more than $8 million on the building installing more than 1,100 windows and adding a freight elevator.

This deal has the potential to change Detroit. The downtown core is already experiencing a revival in business and culture but so far the surrounding neighborhoods have struggled to keep up. Corktown has ample room for new housing and businesses and redeveloping Michigan Central Station would throw the neighborhood the attention and money it needs to grow.

Now if only Detroit and its metro area could get serious about public transit.

The average American woman is plus-sized, but only 18 percent of clothing sold in 2016 was size 14 or higher. This disconnect in the world of fashion looked like an opportunity to a team of four former Gilt execs, who are today launching a new e-commerce site, CoEdition. The site will cater to women sizes 10 through 26, offering a curated selection of contemporary clothing from top brands, including Stuart Weitzman, Tahari, Rachel Roy, and others.

The company is backed by Gilt Groupe founder Kevin Ryan, former Gilt technology head Kent Helbig, Gilt’s fashion director and head of brand acquisition Brooke Cundiff, and former Gilt Chief Merchandising Officer, Keith George, now CoEdition CEO.

“Brooke was doing some consulting for a brand in this space, and realized there were a lot of new brands coming on and a lot of momentum in the market,” explains George, of CoEdition’s founding. “But no one was really bringing it all together. No one was bringing all these different brands under one roof,” he says.

The new site aims to better cater to that customer sized 10 and up, helping them find the right item, the right fit, as well as discover new brands to try.

At launch, CoEdition features over 1,000 items from 20 brands, but plans to grow its selection over the course of 2018 to reach 150 brands, and tens of thousands of items. This will include clothing, accessories, bags, shoes, swimwear, and lingerie, at “contemporary” price points – that is, the average price point for the items it carries is around $150.

“We like to say is that we’re aspirational, but accessible,” notes George.

Purchases will ship for free for the time being, and CoEdition expects to open up international shipping by mid-April.

The startup is not the first to cater to plus-sized women; but there are only a few that are doing this well.

Online clothing subscription service Gwynnie Bee allows women to rent the latest trends, while Dia & Co. is more like a Stitch Fix-style subscription box for sizes 14 and up. Meanwhile, most major retailers carry plus size lines online, and many individual brands carry their plus sizes online, even if not in-store. Amazon has entered the space as well, with several in-house brands of its own, catering to the plus-sized market.

CoEdition doesn’t plan to compete with the subscription box companies, George tells TechCrunch, nor is it discounting the Amazon threat. Instead, its focus will be on helping women through a combination of data science techniques for personalized recommendations, along with curated styling guidance on site.

However, these are longer-term goals for the startup; right now the plan is to launch and begin to collect more data on who their customer is, so they can better serve her needs.

“We always say this woman has great style, but hasn’t always had great options,” George says.

To help get the word out about its arrival, CoEdition is launching with an influencer program, which will feature the influencer’s favorite looks and point-of-view right on the homepage. The site debuts with picks from L.A.’s Alexa Michael May, and new influencers will be added every week or two.

The site will also feature new brands on a weekly basis, and eventually, user-generated content in the form of customer photos showcasing how they’re wearing the clothes.

CoEdition will also leverage Facebook and Instagram ads, which have proven to be a popular way of alerting consumers about new fashion brands.

Formally incorporated in October 2017, New York-based CoEdition has raised a $4 million seed round led by NEA (Tony Florence), with participation from General Catalyst, Primary, and BBG Ventures.