Roundup: All the April Fools’ ‘announcements’ from Alphabet, Google, and more

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While other brands might just do one or two jokes, Google goes all out for April Fools' Day. It's a very serious and long-running affair with major product teams partaking in fun feature announcements. April 1, 2019 falls on a Monday, with many of the pranks beginning to appear on Sunday.

Be sure to join us for live breaking coverage of all the shenanigans from Google, Alphabet, and the rest of the tech industry. Meanwhile, here's a recap from past years: 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018. The newest updates are at the bottom of each section.

From Google:

Google Maps

"To get your daily dose of 90s nostalgia," Google Maps this week features a built-in game of Snake. Google Maps for Android and iOS gets a new themed overflow menu and red dot to highlight the experience in the navigation drawer.

Of course, it is geography-themed with users able to play in Cairo, São Paulo, London, Sydney, San Francisco, Tokyo, or the world. Users swipe in the four cardinal directions to simulate a D-Pad and control the growing subway, double-decker, train, or street car. This experience is also available (after this week) as a standalone site.

Updating…

From the tech industry:

T-Mobile

Over the weekend, the "T-Mobile Phone BoothE" could be found in New York, Washington DC, and Seattle to "take private calls, project to a big screen, and enjoy devices free of distractions." Features include Worry-Free Charging, Magenta Pages, Social Mode, and Next-Gen Soundproofing. This physical contraption's name also pokes fun — because John Legere — at AT&T'S 5G E rebranding of 4G LTE.

Monoprice

Monoprice's newest product line is the "Monolith Cassette Series." Proclaiming that the "Tape is Back," it features a Boombox, Cassette Player, and Recorder.

Roku

Roku's Press Paws Remote makes the smart TV box accessible to pets as "72% of Roku owners surveyed believed that their dogs would enjoy TV more if they could use the remote themselves to control what they watch." Paw-friendly features include Animal-Themed Shortcut Buttons, Bark Assistant Technology, and Built in Sub-WOOFer.

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