April Fool's day roundup

The tech world loves to go a little nuts on April Fool's day; we usually stand by and watch the madness ensue, but we figured we'd lend a hand keep you in the know. Trust us, you don't want nerds punking you, that kind of upsets the natural pecking order. (Oh yeah, and if you've got any good ones, drop 'em in comments.)

Engadget & ThinkGeek - Art Lebedev's Vilcus dactyloadapter
Google - Google unveils "dark porcelain"-based TiSP home broadband service [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Google - Gmail paper, it's finally here!
Phonescoop - Apple caves to Cingular's demands, Sanyo switchblade phone, Moto RAVR and BLZR, Googlephone interface revealed, and E-TEN buys Palm
El Reg - Apple and Google making phone together
CNET - Apple TiVo undercover peek
ThinkGeek - WiiHelm and a bunch of other fake crap
PirateBay - PirateBay finds home in North Korea [Via Slashdot]
more...

Geeks.com - Rent an Asimo
IDG.se - Sony Ericsson Aibo, aww [Thanks, David]
Philip Baker - Cellphone companies fess up for crap service. Yeah right.
Gearlog - 200GB 40x zoom Treo 650CTU, Jack Bauer edition
Wii Fanboy - Nintendo adds new Virtual Console glitch emulator
Skype Journal - Skype for Cows! It's about damned time.
PocketNow - Windows Mobile 7 naming scheme leaked. Our favorite: "Windows Mobile 7.00 without Touchscreen and Professional Application Suite Edition"

[zach @ Apr 1st 2007 1:35PM]

Gmail paper isn't real? Wow was I fooled...

[Trandy @ Apr 1st 2007 1:37PM]

http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/wiihelm.shtml?cpg=50T

Thinkgeek offers the "Wii Helm"

[Nate @ Apr 1st 2007 1:45PM]

That google one is brilliant.

[bert @ Apr 1st 2007 1:48PM]

this is truly the best one The Pirate Bay Finds Permanent Home in NORTH KOREA
Pirate bay
http://slashdot.org/articles/07/04/01/1342236.shtml

[Alex @ Apr 1st 2007 1:50PM]

yeah the TiSP one seems pretty real...then again so does the Gmail paper..haha... wait why are they making these? arent they supposed to be doing REAL work?

[bert @ Apr 1st 2007 1:51PM]

love the image of the nerd stacking the paper here
http://mail.google.com/mail/help/paper/more.html

i did wonder, until i read this:
"It's paper, plain and easy. I sometimes find myself wondering: what will Google think of next? Cardboard?"

[devurandom @ Apr 1st 2007 1:53PM]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_%28inventor%29

A full blown joke article at wikipedia

[Josh @ Apr 1st 2007 1:53PM]

You missed "Patent Filings Reveal Google Phone Interface" on the same phonescoop page...a little lower down.

[Josh @ Apr 1st 2007 1:54PM]

In fact the whole damn front page.

[Nate @ Apr 1st 2007 2:04PM]

But what about the environment?

Not a problem. Gmail Paper is made out of 96% post-consumer organic soybean sputum, and thus, actually helps the environment. For every Gmail Paper we produce, the environment gets incrementally healthier.




I love Google

[Ash @ Apr 1st 2007 2:07PM]

Another google one: http://www.google.com/googlegulp/ haha

[Nate @ Apr 1st 2007 2:12PM]

Wait – you're saying Auto-Drink™ changes my brain chemistry?

Um, yeah – but for the better.

[Nate @ Apr 1st 2007 2:09PM]

Google Gulp Nice

They just crank em out.

[Adam Zeldin @ Apr 1st 2007 2:11PM]

how about facebook.com's "LivePoke"

They're offering a service to actually poke someone physically when you "poke" then on facebook.

Crazy

[Ash @ Apr 1st 2007 2:12PM]

The FAQ's on the Google Gulp one are hilarious.

[Conjecture McSpeculate @ Apr 1st 2007 2:16PM]

geeks.com are offering a six-month in-home trial of Honda's ASIMO robot.

http://www.geeks.com/asimo.html?cm_mmc=geekmail-_-daily_html-_-01APR07_ASIMO-_-ASIMO-_-Viewasweb

[ben @ Apr 1st 2007 2:17PM]

facebook is also putting the most random things in the newsfeed like changes in relationship statuses for people in greys anatomy and the like

[Josh @ Apr 1st 2007 2:57PM]

I got "Harry and Voldemort have set their relationship status to "Mortal Enemies." 4:18pm" with a cute lightning bolt icon next to it.

Plus the Google Gulp one is from 2005, I knew I'd seen it before. Google it and you'll see.

[guidedbyvoip @ Apr 1st 2007 2:21PM]

http://www.woot.com/Default.aspx

Hurry! On Sale! 1 Million dollars worth of crap!!!



Oh wait...they sold out.

[Spartacus @ Apr 1st 2007 2:24PM]

phonescoop does it every year. My favorite is still "Samsung unveils 26 new silver clamshells."

[Nate @ Apr 1st 2007 2:25PM]

woot.com has a good one.

[Nate @ Apr 1st 2007 2:35PM]

Oh Shit Google stckin up for Apple:

Maybe we're jaded, but we've seen all these other companies leap headlong into 1.0, thinking their product is exactly what they've been dreaming of all their lives, that everything is perfect and hunky-dory – and the next thing you know some vanilla copycat release from Redmond is kicking their butt, the Board is holding emergency meetings and the CEO is on CNBC blathering sweatily about "a new direction" and "getting back to basics."

[Heather Bickle @ Apr 1st 2007 2:41PM]

http://www.yourmaclifeshow.com/ This one involved David Pogue and NPR! Shawn - you little devil! :)

[Ashamed @ Apr 1st 2007 2:42PM]

It took me WAY too long to realize gmail paper was a prank. way way too long.

[Nate @ Apr 1st 2007 2:44PM]

Inhabitat has a decent one:

http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/04/01/gherkin-gets-a-green-roof/#more-3413

[DeepKeeper @ Apr 1st 2007 3:06PM]

About Vilkus - it is present on Art-Lebedev's, but only in russian version.
http://www.artlebedev.ru/everything/vilcus/

[A.M.B. @ Apr 1st 2007 3:15PM]

Too bad the 8-bit tie at think geek is fake, because it's F'n hot! I need one.

[Lita @ Apr 1st 2007 3:28PM]

albinoblacksheep.com also had a good one, but they took it down already. It can be seen here: http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/archive/aprilfools2007

[alfonzo @ Apr 1st 2007 3:34PM]

yeah, the woot one should go up too...$1,000,001 bag of crap (with a $1,000,000 coupon)

[Ferny @ Apr 1st 2007 3:37PM]

you missed the most important one...

the iPhone is now shipping
http://images.thinkgeek.com/other/looflirpa/navbanner-iphone.jpg

from: http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/lebedev.shtml (lower left hand corner)

[Hobobob10 @ Apr 1st 2007 3:41PM]

For those of you who have seen the wiki, Wikiality, a site based around the satirical show, "The Colbert Report", they've replaced their front page with a scan of a takedown notice from Viacom. http://www.wikiality.com/Shutdownnotice.html

[Peter @ Apr 1st 2007 3:44PM]

I put in a shameless plug for the one I did for my company (a DVD & CD manufacturing plant)

http://actionduplication.wordpress.com/2007/04/01/action-duplication-announces-40-million-vinyl-pressing-plant/

[Dhruv @ Apr 1st 2007 3:49PM]

the surge sticks on thinkgeek.com are pretty awesome if only they were real


http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/surgestix.shtml

[Dhruv @ Apr 1st 2007 3:49PM]

i wonder how long it will take for someone to actually make an 8bit tie like the one on think geek

http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/8-bit-tie.shtml

[Conrado @ Apr 1st 2007 4:05PM]

Another good one from google
http://www.google.com/jobs/lunar_job.html

[Dave Bergschneider @ Apr 1st 2007 4:15PM]

http://www.teamxbox.com is making 360 fans jaws hit the floor with their wildest video game fantasy's.

[Galley @ Apr 1st 2007 4:30PM]

Nothing beats ThinkGeek's SnuzNLuz clock.

Connects via WiFi to your online bank account, and donates YOUR real money to an organization you HATE when you decide to snooze!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/snuznluz.shtml?cpg=50T

[M.Dell @ Apr 1st 2007 4:32PM]

Microsoft Performs Illegal Operation, Shuts Down

If only it was true....

http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q2.07/916D23AC-1455-4503-A020-D589FE88E076.html

[Arman Iman @ Apr 1st 2007 5:15PM]

ThinkGeeek had the Xbox 2

http://images.thinkgeek.com/other/looflirpa/nowshipping_xbox2.gif

[Dick @ Apr 1st 2007 6:02PM]

TreoCentral reporting Palm has released a firmware update to give all the latest Treo's WiFi,........ with Chip hidden in Battery!!!!!!

[The Sloof Lirpa Center @ Apr 1st 2007 6:16PM]

The Sloof Lirpa Center put out a (funny) warning regarding Google AdSense Code vulnerability today:

http://www.slooflirpacenter.com

[2Perfect @ Apr 1st 2007 6:31PM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvIMkF2iRWQ
^^^ video about google's Gmail Paper and Free Google Broadband TiSP

and here's a collection of april fool's stuff on the web:
http://elliottback.com/wp/archives/2007/04/01/happy-april-fools-day-collection/

[Brooks @ Apr 1st 2007 6:38PM]

HDDVD.org has reviewed The Departed Redux: Part 2!!!!
http://www.dvdtown.com/reviews/departedreduxthepartii/4516

Oh and Bungie has announced their upcoming movie PIMPS AT SEA!!! Can't wait!!
http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&link=pas2007

[David Gurney @ Apr 1st 2007 6:53PM]

Did you guys see the ad on the left hand side of the second ThinkGeek article, quoting, "iPhone. Now Shipping. Click to order."
made me look twice

[Sean @ Apr 1st 2007 8:13PM]

How 'bout the Gmail Free Internet one? It would be a great idea if it was practical...

http://www.google.com/tisp/

I especially like the Google Router in the picture.

[mitch @ Apr 1st 2007 8:20PM]

lmao
Quote:
From time to time, in order to improve Google Gulp's usefulness for our users, Google Gulp will send packets of data related to your usage of this product from a wireless transmitter embedded in the base of your Google Gulp bottle to the GulpPlex™, a heavily guarded, massively parallel server farm whose location is known only to Eric Schmidt, who carries its GPS coordinates on a 64-bit-encrypted smart card locked in a stainless-steel briefcase handcuffed to his right wrist. No personally identifiable information of any kind related to your consumption of Google Gulp or any other current or future Google Foods product will ever be given, sold, bartered, auctioned off, tossed into a late-night poker pot, or otherwise transferred in any way to any untrustworthy third party, ever, we swear.

[NSaine @ Apr 1st 2007 9:31PM]

Thought you should know that YTMND.com is now doing an april fools thing too ^_^

[geeko527 @ Apr 1st 2007 9:58PM]

i definitely loved the new Google TiSP.. that would be perty awesome..

but one that no one's mentioned yet is that IsoHunt announced that Viacom offered to buy IsoHunt for $2 Billion. (Yahoo has an offer pending..)

[VTMaple @ Apr 1st 2007 11:08PM]

Don't miss NPR's bit about cell phone ringtone legislation in NYC. And hang around for the 'funding credits' at the very end!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9210663

[gtul @ Apr 1st 2007 11:08PM]

Mandatory ISP filtering will block P2P http://whirlpool.net.au/article.cfm/1719