The end of YouTube, a Nokia microwave and searching the Internet with your nose were some of the pranks that emerged this 1 April on the World Wide Web.
April Fools' Day has become the perfect opportunity for big companies to make bold announcements and have a little fun. According to the Huffington Post, Google has come to be known for its April Fools pranks, and this year was no different.
In an attempt to allow people to better embrace their olfactory senses, Google introduced Google Nose BETA, a fictional product that promises "to offer the sharpest olfactory experience available". In a promotional video for the product, Google's product manager, Jon Wooly, admits that the Google team has neglected a certain aspect of the search experience in the past.
"Google Nose BETA is our flagship olfactory knowledge feature enabling users to search for smells," he explains. During the two-minute video, Doug Smith, a Google engineering lead, discusses the phenomenon of "photo olfactory sensory convergence" and the "mobile aroma indexing programme" that makes this technology possible.
Google also celebrated the practical-joke-inspired day by unveiling Google Maps Treasure Mode, which allows users to pool their problem-solving skills in the search for real hidden treasure based on a series of maps that were recently discovered by Google's Street View team. According to Google, the maps detail the activities of Scottish explorer and infamous pirate Captain William Kidd.
The search engine also attempted to fool Web users by announcing that YouTube will no longer accept new uploads. In another spoof video, the YouTube team details how the video-sharing site is actually the basis of an eight-year-long contest to find the best video in the world, a contest that has come to an end.
But Google wasn't the only one feeling a little silly yesterday; Twitter unveiled its plans to release a budget version of the social network. But there's a catch - users of free Twitter will have to say their piece without vowels. Should one want to add in an A, E, I, O or U, they'll have to cough up $5 per month, according to the prank.
Nokia also joined the jokes by showcasing its newest offering - a touch-screen microwave oven.
April Fools' Day also saw companies poking fun at trends and recent innovations in the tech space. In response to the millions of cat videos currently on the Net, Vimeo debuted a kitty-inspired video hub, dubbed Vimeow. Similarly, Sony announced plans to develop a range of headphones specifically for feline friends.
The much-hyped Google Glasses also served as inspiration for mischief. The UK's Guardian newspaper revealed its own spectacles that enable the wearer to see either liberal or conservative augmented realities, and LomoGoggles, by analogue camera community Lomography, allow consumers to see the world in analogue.
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