1st April – The Fools’ Day was probably very exciting when we were kids. We used to play a lot of pranks with our friends. Once we are grown up we don’t feel that excited about the day. But every year, the netizens are for sure experiencing some or other pranks. And the pranks are so believable that they can’t even realize that they are fake as these pranks are played by top companies and brands. This year too we have a few of their kind that went viral on the Internet on the Fools’ day. Let’s have a look.
Google shutting down YouTube – This could probably be the biggest prank of the year. Google announced that it is going to shut down YouTube – one of its most popular services. It also announced a nice reason saying “As YouTube is unable to accomplish its mission which is to find the best video on the Internet, the service will be put into retirement.”
Google Nose BETA – Search for Smells – Google added a Fool’s Day feature to its search ‘Google Nose BETA’ with a tag line ‘Smelling is Believing’. The feature enables users to smell the search terms. It prompts users to bring their nose close the device, either PC or mobile, to start smelling. Lot of people got caught sniffing their monitors as reported by one newspaper.
- Nokia 5AM-TH1N6 Constellation Microwave – Nokia announced a new extension to its product’s range – the new Nokia 5AM-TH1N6 Constellation Microwave.
The touch screen microwave resembles Nokia Lumia and it has interesting features that include an interesting eye-tracking technology that allows the users to just look at the food and stop it from rotating and it also adjusts its temperature depending upon how hungry you look.
Nokia’s director of household innovation Olavi Huhtikuu announced that “Nokia has a proven track record in working with microwave radios, so for us this was a logical next step. We developed the highly innovative 5AM-TH1N6 Constellation, which will revolutionize everything from single households to canteen kitchens. ”
SONY Gadgets for Pets – SONY company announced that it is planning to release Animalia line of products specially designed for pets. Tom Barret, Lead Engineer for the Animalia line says “Now that there are more households with pets than with children, we are targeting pet owners who want to provide unique entertainment experiences for their furry, four-legged family members.”
Flipkart’s Delivery of Cash – Till now we have seen Flipkart’s ‘cash on delivery’ offer but on Fools’ Day they came up with ‘Delivery of Cash’. The description reads, “Two years after the launch of its era-changing Cash on Delivery option, Flipkart gears up to initiate its one-of-a-kind Delivery of Cash service. You no longer have to visit ATMs for that much needed money! Just go online or call our ever-ready personnel to get quick cash delivered home. And pay us with a simple swipe of your card!”
No-vowel Twttr Service by Twitter – Twitter has announced that it is going to charge for vowels ($5 a month). Consonants are free and it also announced that it will always offer Y for nothing, even when it is used as a vowel. Twitter says that by eliminating vowels, they are helping users to a “more efficient, and ‘dense’ form of communication.”
- Virgin’s Glass Bottomed-Plane – Richard Branson announced a new
Virgin plane – the world’s first glass-bottomed plane. This domestic service will fly between London and Aberdeen. Branson said: “I am incredibly proud of yet another aviation breakthrough which has been years in the making. I can’t wait to experience the first flight for myself with my family and other natural born explorers.”
The Daily Mail’s ‘Roy-owl Mail’ – In a story headlined, “Who needs to tweet when you’ve got the Roy-owl Mail,” the Daily Mail announced that considering the face of budget cuts and an internal backlogs they got owls to deliver their internal mails which are trained in an animal sanctuary in the Northern England.
These are some of the best pranks of this year on the Internet which fooled a decent number of netizens. Looks like we need to remember the day every year to prevent ourselves from getting fooled on the cyber space. For some more pranks we need to wait till next April.