BackGoogle Nose. Really?
Play Things takes a look at some of the best attempts by tech companies to prank you on April Fool’s Day
Premium(Google nose is the search team’s latest gag, and features a full landing page which suggests that the new feature is going to roll out to mobiles and will let you search a database of smells.)
The tech community has always shown a lot of enthusiasm for 1 April, with Google in particular setting up elaborate fake pages and announcing new products that really look believable. If you’re not amused by all this, then 1 April is usually the worst day to read any technology or gaming blog, as all regular announcements tend to be replaced with these jokes, and most blogs also feel the need to outdo things and create their own fake coverage. It’s also a rare chance to see tech companies, which usually behave like they’re saving the world and solving crime with each new iterative product they release, cut loose and have some fun. So what’re some of the cooler attempts for this year’s best prank? Check out the ones we found, and if you saw something good, mention it in the comments.
Google’s various developer teams really seem to love this day, and this year, aside from Google, there are pranks from the Gmail, Maps and YouTube teams as well, but the best were definitely the Google search and YouTube pranks.
Google Nose is the search team’s latest gag, and features a full landing page which suggests that the new feature is going to roll out to mobiles and will let you search a database of smells, which could also be used to enhance Google Books and YouTube videos. They probably didn’t know that YouTube is closing, which was the next big announcement of the day.
YouTube was a contest, and it’s over now
With Google Reader closing recently, this joke verges on being too soon to be funny. But the very first scene in it should bring relief to worried viewers—it’s an obvious joke, with the “reveal" that YouTube was really a contest to find the best video ever. The video has YouTube employees explain that the site is going to go dark, to find the best video ever, which will be announced in… 2023.
While it’s an obvious prank, it’s very well made and features interviews with “YouTube celebrities", people who’ve become famous through viral videos, which adds just the right amount of irony to the whole thing.
Given the number of times people have complained about the lack of Instagram on Windows phone, this might actually be the meanest entry on the list. It’s been made to look completely legitimate, and talks about the #2instawithlove campaign, which is meant to bring Instagram to the Windows platform. It’s not just a developer’s blog entry either—there’s a full page on the Windows Phone Marketplace, though the icon looks different.
Click the install button though, and you’re told you don’t have permission to install the app, and there’s a line in the description that shows that it’s a prank: the last line is happy 1 April, 2013.
The idea isn’t instantly believable, but who hasn’t had their pet switch off the TV by jumping on the remote, or ruin everything ever by knocking your PC tower off its stand destroying three months of scrimping and saving? Okay, that second part isn’t that common, but pets and technology don’t mix well. They do look cute together though, and Sony has acknowledged this with their new Animalia line; gadgets meant for pets.
You’ve got everything from headsets for cats to a boombox for hamsters, and a simplified TV remote for dogs, so that your best friend can enjoy life while you’re out at work. The video of the dog flicking through videos was pure genius, and some people watching must be getting inspired to make this for real.
Twitter will charge for vowels
The first tweet ever used the spelling twttr. And that’s now official, if you believe the Annncng Twttr post that showed up on the Twitter blog today. In a bold move that solves Twitter’s monetization question, the service is still free for consonants, but if you’d like to tweet a vowel, prepare to pay $5 a month for it! Y is free though, because users come first, according to the blog, which shows some sample “mock-up" vowel less tweets as well.
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