From Xiaomi to Oppo: How tech companies pulled April Fools’ Day pranks
April Fools’ Day is often celebrated among friends and loved ones for a bit of laughter and fun. But for a while now, tech companies and startups have been on a trend of playing pranks on people with harmless practical jokes. Some of the jokes and puns from tech giants are often initially taken as genuine announcements. However, it’s easy to realize that they’re just playing pranks — not to intentionally discourage them, but to add a bit of humor to their lives — when you look at the calendar.
Fortunately, the latest April Fools’ Day pranks from companies come after two years of tough times due to the coronavirus pandemic, which led to the cancellation of April Fools’ Day pranks from tech giants including Google.
See how companies like Xiaomi, Nothing and more pulled off April Fools’ Day pranks this year.
Xiaomi hints at launch of new tablet
Earlier this week, Xiaomi announced started teasing the launch of its new product that many considered to be the new Xiaomi Pad models. However, instead of confirming such details, the Chinese company announced the launch of very different ‘tablets’.
Xiaomi says it launched the new “Mint Tablets” to build confidence among Mi fans. The company even released a video promo showing off the retail box of the tablets, which — in case you were wondering — aren’t actually going on sale.
Oppo presents new device
Not only Xiaomi, but also its home-grown competitor Oppo has embraced an April Fool’s joke this time and presented a small device called Oppo Gotcha.
The Oppo Gotcha is said to feature a display with a 1,422Hz refresh rate. It will also come with dual stereo speakers that can be expanded to 11 and has a “very clicky button”, the company says in its teaser. Nevertheless, it is nothing more than an April Fool’s joke.
Nothing is another (1) phone
OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei’s Nothing has also joined in on the April Fools’ jokes this year by teasing a phone called Another (1). The company is expected to launch its actual smartphone, the Nothing Phone 1, sometime this summer.
Nothing essentially attempts to criticize smartphone companies that launch new phones on a regular basis. It claims to break the monotony in the smartphone market by coming out with a new offering this year.
Zomato lets users prank friends with fake orders
Unlike Xiaomi, Oppo and Nothing, Zomato is not making false promises about new products. However, the food delivery aggregator is said to run an on-app service that allows users to prank their friends by sharing a fake message about an order being delivered.
The message contains a link that pretends to allow the recipient to track their orders. However, it takes you to a screen that reads: “You’ve been pranked!” It should be noted that Gadgets 360 was unable to verify this feature in the app.
With April Fools just beginning in some parts of the world, especially the US, we can expect more pranks from global tech companies in the coming hours. Don’t take them seriously and just appreciate the humor in them and laugh at them.
