The best and the worst April Fools’ Day pranks by tech companies today

So it’s April 1 and as the grand old tradition goes, it’s that time of the year when laughing at other people is sort of a mandate. Tech companies love to announce outlandish products on the day, and this year was no different. We saw the existing pranksters like Google getting their game on as usual, but we also some new entrants giving some tough competition to the professionals. Here’s our pick of the best and the worst pranks coming out of April Fools’ Day 2015 by tech companies.

First up, our pick of the best ones today!
6. Microsoft goes old school
Microsoft went back in time to create some nostalgia while also letting you prank your friends while you are at it. All you need to do is download an app, and your phone goes back to the days of MS-DOS where you had to manually type in commands to open any applications.

5. Google’s prank kitty
Google transformed its Maps into a good old Pac-Man game. The hack essentially lets users turn any part of a city into the pixilated board game. The roads turn into the tracks where you can control the yellow bob and run from the ghosts. The hack also has the iconic music to really get you into the mood.

Additionally, the company also launched the personal assistant called Google Panda at a fake launch event. The company is trying to make it as real as possible and has made the Panda available in multiple sizes — Google Panda 5 and Google Panda 6.

There is also the launch of Dial-Up mode by the folks at Google Fiber, which is basically a product that slows down the Internet.

4. Connected Socks! HTC sure has the funny bone
Not to be left behind, HTC came up with a pair of connected socks. The HTC Re SOK is the world’s first pair of smartsocks (apparently!). It comes with an integrated display that lets you look at the phone’s notification by just pulling up your feet and gazing at your ankles. It also features GPS tracking to ensure that you will never lose your sock and it also sports a super slick coating to ensure that the feet slips in without any troubles. Even with all the internal fights that have been reported within the company, the humor hasn’t seemed to have died.

3. Samsung’s killer smart knife hoax
Samsung baffled everyone with this bizarre smart knife product launch. The Samsung Galaxy Blade Edge was launched in a well crafted blog post that was sarcasm heavy and full of puns. The company took the ‘What is the point of the Galaxy S6 Edge?’ questions floating around the geek world, and invoked some rib tickling humor out of this crazy product lunch. The best thing anyone can do is laugh at themselves, and Samsung nailed it with this one.

2. Zomato gets into matchmaking
On the occasion of April Fools’ Day, Zomato decided to needle the singles. The company launched an app called Zomatcho that let you meet people with similar food taste so that you never dine alone. Sweet concept right? Except that it’s just a fancy joke. Twitter is abuzz with doubts on whether this is really true, with some of them hoping that it really is. The fact that Zomato managed to fool so many, gives it a deserving place in this spot!

1. Olacabs wins the April Fool’s Day prank trophy
Olacabs was at its mischievous best today! Their Ola Air launch was a massive success, with it trending on Twitter for quite some time, fooling many. The company announced the launch of helicopter rides for just Rs 499 per hour. Users who are oblivious to air traffic rules and general logistical mayhem that can be caused by this crazy initiative, were all secretly hoping Olacabs wasn’t joking. Here’s more about the Olacabs prank, and we think it was the best one today so far!

Oh, that was a prank? Our pick of the one’s that didn’t tickle our ribs much:

3. Sony’s battery app hoax
Sony seems to have readied a new app that will let Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3 Compact users transfer extra battery life to friends whose phones are about to die. Of course the app is a big fat joke, and it doesn’t really send any battery power to anyone. We do not know if we should be laughing or crying, really.

2. OnePlus’ DR-1 drone was just a toy
We aren’t sure if the whole revealing a drone, but not being a drone, instead just being a small quadcopter is funny enough. After the whole elaborate waiting in anticipation, and then unveiling a palm sized drone, and asking money for it is just – again- not funny.

1. Moto Selfie Stick. Funny-much?
Motorola’s idea of a prank is launching a customized selfie stick. Well, okay? So what’s funny about it? You can decide if you want the selfie stick to be made out of wood or leather, and the company has made a detailed video over it. Laugh riot much? Not in our opinion.

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