Here are the best April Fool’s Day tech pranks of 2017

April Fool’s Day is upon us, and I’ve already done my daily scroll through Facebook not believing anything that I see, which incidentally might be a good way to approach it all the time. In honor of that here are some of the best April Fool’s Day tech pranks of 2017.

One of my personal favorites this year is the Amazon Echo’s upgrade from regular boring old Alexa to the new and improved Petlexa. The Petlexa can understand your cats, dogs, hamsters, and whatever other pets and animals you may have and allows them to use the Amazon Echo to order things and operate it the same as you and I would by simply barking, meowing, or squeaking at it.

“If your pets are shy to warm up to their new AI friend, try suggesting music by The Animals or an audiobook like Marley and Me on Audible. So, go on—get the whole house talking with pet voice commands.” Said Amazon regarding its new Petlexa.

Sticking with the theme of animals and technology, Petco has the ultimate answer for those of you who are too lazy (or too grossed out) to pick up after your pets. Its DooDoo Drone 3000 is not available in stores but will be available for order online today for only $99.99. Per Petco’s website, its drone has built in sensors which will allow it to sniff out your dog’s poop, and comes in a 9000 model as well for lager dogs. They will soon also be releasing a Kitty Litter Flying Saucer for those of you who own cats!

Another interesting one comes from Indian company Ola, which usually just offers you the ability to order a cab to your location. But now the company is offering a new service which gives the user the ability to never have to walk from point A to B again, all you have to do is open the app and click on Ola Wheels and it sends a Segway to your location.

This Ola Wheels Segway will then use GPS mapping and automation to drive you to your location while you sit back and watch videos or listen to music. Ola wheels is available only in corporate parks now but will soon spread to airports, malls, and railway stations. Hopefully Uber catches on to this and brings it to North America!

“Imagine never having to walk to that distance from your cafeteria to your cubicle in office. Imagine the best travel companion who is more obsessed about you than your dog. Imagine wheeling round everywhere simply because… now you can!” said Ola’s suspicious announcement.

Tech giant Google has floated a few different pranks today, but the coolest of them in my opinion is Google Wind. Google Wind which is powered by the Google Cloud uses “machine learning” to collaboratively get windmills to blow rain clouds away in Holland where rain is the most predominant weather forecast. But, as Google pointed out, rain is needed at times so its Google Wind system is also capable of choosing when and where to send rain clouds. The future is truly limitless for Google, and therefore for The Dutch.

Below: Amazon Alexa Moments: Petlexa (Amazon Echo Commercial)

More Cantech Society