Roundup: All of Google’s jokes for April Fools’ Day 2015

Google has yet again gotten into the spirit of April Fools’ day this year and the company hasn’t disappointed so far.

Usually, Google does so many jokes that it’s hard to follow, so we’re rounding them all up here for your viewing pleasure.

Self driving Chromebooks

That’s right, Google has done the unthinkable and invented self-driving Chromebooks. The company says of the extension’s extensive testing:

We’ve been testing this new functionality for weeks, browsing the whole web from classifieds to news, music to cat photos -- and now, these Chromebooks are responsible for the majority of ALL CAPS comments on the web. In total, our self-browsing Chromebooks have logged more than 5 million pageviews without once being Rickrolled!

 

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Google Hangouts Easter Eggs

Hangouts is helping you out your April Fools’ Day pranks with some little Easter Eggs to soften the blow for whoever is on the receiving end of your mischief.

Google Fiber Dial-up Mode

Google is pioneering the slow internet movement with 56k speeds to help you get back to real life more often.

Elgoog

Google has outdone itself with a backwards version of Google.com, domain and all, at http://com.google. Everything in the search results are backwards, including images and cards displayed.

Also, this is the first time Google has ever used its .google top-level domain.

Google Maps Pac-man

The very first joke the company trotted out was this amazing hack in Google Maps that lets you play Pac-Man on any street in any city. Just hit the button next to satellite view and you’ll be playing the game in your own neighborhood.

It even works on mobile, if you can find one of the hidden little pins that activates the game.

Google Panda

This year, out of Google Japan, we’ve got an adorable new product called ‘Google Panda’ which is a cuddly toy you can talk to and consult for answers, just like Google Now.

The company touts Panda as portable (it can cling onto your arm during a run) and it can answer any question using Google’s voice recognition technology. This has to be the cutest joke, by far.

The Keyless Keyboard

Google Japan didn’t settle for just one prank, it also came up with the keyless keyboard. The device is a party horn that can be used to input language into your mobile phone via Bluetooth.

According to the highly polished video, the keyless keyboard allows you to input text into your mobile phone when the circumstances might not allow you to speak or use your hands, like at the hairdresser.

All you have to do is blow on the party horn.

#Chromeselfie

My personal favorite, Chrome selfie, adds a new option inside Google Chrome on mobile devices that allows you to take a reaction selfie to any page.

With the tap of a button, you get a camera up and can share a screenshot of your face alongside a Web page. It’s something that I almost wish was a real product.

Smartbox

Apparently, Google wants its Inbox product to solve physical mail too. The company uploaded this video that demos its new Smartbox which keeps out spam and can automatically filter out unwanted physical junk mail. Apparently it’ll even alert you on your phone when you have physical mail.

Google is encouraging those that want to try it for themselves to email inbox@google.com for an invitation to Smartbox.

YouTube is insisting we all listen to Darude Sandstorm.

Google owned YouTube is getting heavy handed in its suggestions today with Sandstorm being the song of choice.

The streaming service has also introduced a music button to ALL of its videos that allows you to add Darude Sandstorm to whatever you’re listening to.

Google Actual Cloud Platform

You’ve got to admit, all these ‘cloud’ services out there have been pretty disingenuous. They have nothing to do with fluffy condensation in the sky, so Google’s ready to unleash a cloud product that runs inside, you know, actual clouds.

More to come

Check back soon, we’ll be updating this post as Google inevitably shows off further April Fools’ jokes throughout the day.

Top image credit: Chukcha / Shutterstock.com