As probably know, every year on April Fool’s Day, a bunch of websites and technology companies, such as Google, Hulu, Groupon, Spotify, as well as others,  come up with jokes and pranks to pull on their users. Below are three of these such pranks, which you may find interesting.

GMail – GMail Motion

If you went to the GMail website today, with the intent of checking your e-mail, you may have noticed that there was a box announcing “GMail Motion”, which enables users to access and navigate around their GMail accounts by making certain gestures and body movements, which would be picked up by their webcam.

Google even created a help page for the “GMail Motion” product, explaining what it is, how it works, which motions will do what within GMail, as well as some other information. Also on this page was a YouTube video, explaining this new feature, which I have posted below.

However, when users go to click on the “Try GMail Motion” button, located near the top right of the help page, a black box appears with a loading bar beneath it. Once the box has reached 100%, it will display a message reading “April Fools! Gmail Motion doesn’t actually exist. At least not yet…” and also offers users to either sign into their GMail accounts or to close the pop-up box.

Groupon – April Fool’s Day Patent

Another interesting April Fool’s Day prank was one that the daily deals website Groupon did, which was claiming that they actually filed for the patent for “April Fool’s Day” and changing the holiday’s name to “Groupon Presents April Fools’ Day™”.

Also, on this page of the Groupon website, it is explained that people will never have to be confused again with another corporation’s April Fool’s Day joke”You’ll never again be confused by other corporations’ April 1 pranks, since Groupon will be taking friendly, but swift, but hostile, legal actions against any nonlicensed April Fools’ Day™ joke.”

Groupon even went as far as to file a “patent” for April Fool’s Day, which you can also find a link to on their April Fool’s Day page.

YouTube – YouTube 1911

YouTube is another website that came up with something for April Fool’s Day, creating a blog post saying that today is the website’s 100th anniversary and that in order to reflect on the site’s inaugural year, they would post a re-print of their first blog post from 1911.

Also, on some YouTube videos, there is an option to actually make a video look as though it was created in the early 1900’s, by making a video appear as though it is a silent film, with the exception of a piano soundtrack playing along with the video, by making the video appear as though it’s being projected and is in a sepia-like color.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about these three April Fool’s Day pranks that have been pulled on the visitors of GMail, Groupon, and YouTube! For a more complete list of websites and tech companies that have created April Fool’s Day pranks, I’d suggest that you check out this article from TechCrunch, as well as this article from PCMag.com.

What is your opinion of these April Fool’s Day jokes? How do you think they compare to the jokes that were created in the past years? Please feel free to post your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!

Earlier today, Mozilla FireFox 4, the latest version of the popular web browser, which has been in beta since July 6, 2010, was released as the latest stable update to the FireFox browser.

Mozilla’s FireFox 4 browser launched with some new features, as well as some updates, as well. One of the most noticeable features of FireFox 4 is its new interface, which has moved its tabs above the address bar, similar to how tabs are organized in Google’s Chrome browser.

The new interface also includes new features, such as the ability to pin “application tabs”, another feature which is available in Google Chrome. An application, or “app”, tab allows users to essentially “pin” the tabs of websites that they frequently use, to the front of any other tabs which may be open, making it so users are able to quickly find their tabs, as they’ll always be on the left of any others.The “app” tabs also enable users to close FireFox 4 and open it again, without having to reload any pinned tabs, as they will be “pinned” open.

Also, the updated interface in FireFox 4 features the ability to find and open any tab that’s in the “Awesome Bar”, FireFox’s name for the Smart Location Bar or address bar, without having to open duplicate tabs.

Another new feature is that users can now create “Panoramas”, which are separate groupings of tabs, enabling users to better organize their tabs, especially when they have many open tabs. Users can create new “Panoramas” by clicking on the arrow, located above the “Home” button, in the top right of the browser, and then clicking on “Tab Groups”.

Mozilla FireFox 4 also allows users to use a feature called FireFox Sync, which has been around for a while now and could be used with the previous versions of FireFox. FireFox Sync allows users to access a variety of different things, such as their Awesome Bar history, bookmarks, open tabs, and even password and form data from multiple computers, as well as mobile devices.

In addition, there is a new version of the Add-on Manager, which enables users to view and configure any add-ons that they may have installed within FireFox. The new add-on manager, however, allows users to easily discover different add-ons, with over 200,000 to choose from, which they can then install within their browser.

The newest version of Mozilla FireFox is also more secure and private than previous versions of the browser. FireFox 4 includes some features, such as “Do Not Track”, which allows users to opt out of any tracking that may be used for “behavioral advertising”.

Another safety feature is HTTP Secure Transfer Security, which tries to establish secure connections between web servers and a computer, in order to prevent “man in the middle” attacks. Mozilla FireFox 4 also supports Content Security Policy, or CSP, which allows websites to tell a browser which content is legitimate. There are also some other security updates in FireFox 4, including bug fixes and such.

FireFox 4 also features support for HTML 5, an addition to their JavaScript engine, as well as support for other technologies. Also, if a user is on a website that causes plug-ins, such as Adobe Flash, Apple’s Quicktime, or Microsoft’s Silverlight, their browsing will not be interrupted by a browser crash. Instead, users can simply refresh the page or the plugin, all without having to completely close their browser.

For more for information about Mozilla FireFox 4, the lastest version of the popular browser by Mozilla, you should check out this post on the official Mozilla Blog. If you would like to download or upgrade to the latest version of Mozilla FireFox, you can do so from the official Mozilla website.

Have you used Mozilla FireFox 4? If so, what are your opinions? Please feel free to post your comments below!

As you may have already heard, AT&T, Inc. has entered a definitive agreement to acquire Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile USA for $39 billion.

This deal is expected to take about 12 months to complete, as there are regulatory approvals and such that have to first be addressed. In this deal, Deutsche Telekom AG will be receiving $25 billion in cash and the difference of $14 billion in shares of AT&T stock.

However, according to the AT&T press release, AT&T has the right to increase the cash portion of their payment up to $4.2 billion, while reducing the amount of stock shares that will be given to Deutche Telekom AG, as long as Deutche Telekom AG receives a five percent equity ownership interest in AT&T, Inc.

With the purchase of T-Mobile, AT&T customers should see improvements in their service, such as the quality of calls, as AT&T will have a broader spectrum and will also gain a number of cell sites, which were previously owned by T-Mobile.

According to AT&T, the company will be gaining the equivalent of what would take five or more years to build, had they not been purchased from T-Mobile. These cell towers should increase the density of AT&T’s network by about 30 percent in some of its most populated areas, without the need to build additional cell towers.

It will be interesting to see how the acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T, Inc. will affect the other cell phone service providers in the United States, such as Verizon and Sprint.

For more information about AT&T’s acquisition of Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile USA, you should check out both AT&T’s official press release and and T-Mobile’s press release on the subject. Also, this article from Yahoo! News provides some information on this, so you may want to check it out, as well.

What do you think of this acquisition and what do you think will happen with the other cell phone service providers? Please feel free to leave a comment below with your opinions!

Recently, the Finnish company, Rovio, the company behind the popular iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad game, Angry Birds, has recently raised $42 million in series A funding.

This round of funding was lead by Accel Partners, as well as Atomico Ventures, which is a venture capital firm that was created by one of Skype’s co-founders, Niklas Zennstrom, who will also be joining the board at Rovio. Another participant in this round of funding was Felicis Ventures, which is a “super-angel fund”.

Rovio said that they will be using the money raised from this round of funding in order to expand its reach to an international level, as well as to expand their product base to other markets, including mobile gaming, social networking, as well as other markets.

Rovio, which is based in Espoo, Finland, currently has 50 employees and created the popular Angry Birds game, which has around 40 million active monthly users.

Angry Birds is available from the Apple App Store for $0.99, but there is also a free, lite, version that users can download as well.

For more information about the recent $40 million round of Series A Funding that Rovio has raised, you should check out this article from TechCrunch, as well as this article from Yahoo! News or this article from Boston.com.

As you probably already know, yesterday, off the coast of Japan, there was a large, 8.9-9.1 M_w earthquake, which then triggered tsunami warnings for many different areas, including Japan, Hawaii, and the whole West Coast of the United States.

However, due to the earthquake and following tsunami waves, which slammed into the east coast of the country, Japan suffered some major damage, killing hundreds of people, causing many others to go missing, as well as damaging many buildings and other areas.

When other countries have been struck with natural disasters or other devastating events, such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Japan often helps them out, so we should do our part to help the people of Japan during this time.

Yahoo! News has put together an article that includes links to donate to various services that are assisting and proving disaster relief services to the people of Japan, including The American Red Cross, GlobalGiving, Save The Children, The Salvation Army, Americares, Convoy of Hope, The International Medical Corps, as well as Shelter Box.

If you would like to donate to any of these organizations, you can either click on the link to the organization within this post or you can go to the Yahoo! News article, where you can find links to donate, as well as some information about each of the above organizations.

Another way that you can donate to the American Red Cross would be through the official Red Cross website, where you can choose from a variety of different causes to donate to, including the recent earthquake and the resulting tsunami off the coast of Japan.

Also, you can donate to the Red Cross by texting “REDCROSS” to the number 90999, which will donate $10 and will be added to your cell phone bill.

If you would like more up-to-date information about the recent earthquake off the coast of Japan, as well as the tsunami that was caused by this earthquake, you should visit a major news website, such as Yahoo! News or CNN.

As you probably already know, on March 2, 2011, Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who is still on medical leave from the company, took to the stage at Apple’s Special Event to announce Apple’s newest version of the iPad, the iPad 2.

Perhaps one of the most anticipated features of the iPad 2 would be its two cameras – one on the front of the iPad and one on the back.

These two cameras can both be used for FaceTime, with the front camera letting users send live video of themselves to other FaceTime users and the back camera allowing users to show their contacts what’s going on around them. The back facing camera can record video in 720p HD and the front-facing camera can record video in VGA quality, at 30 frames per second. Both of these cameras are capable of being used to take snapshots using the PhotoBooth application.

The iPad 2 is also 33 percent thinner than the pervious model and is also lighter. The Wi-Fi version of the device has a height of 9.50 inches, a width of 7.31 inches, a depth of 0.34 inches, and a weight of 1.33 pounds. The version with combined Wi-Fi and 3G is a bit heavier, weighing 1.35 pounds and 1.34 pounds for the Verizon model.

The new version of the iPad also features a 1 GHz Apple A5 duel-core processor chip, which improves speed, but doesn’t use any additional power than Apple’s previous A4 chip.

Like the previous model of the iPad, the iPad 2 features an accelerometer, a 3-axis gyroscope, as well as a compass. However, now, all three of these features are capable of working together, which can be used to sense which direction the iPad is moving in, as well as how it’s moving. Due to this, gaming and using other applications, such as maps, will be easier, as well as more fun to use.

Another neat feature including with the iPad 2 is AirPlay, which allows users to wirelessly stream music, photos, and video to a HDTV, as well as speakers, which can be done using AirPlay enabled speakers or by using an Apple TV on a Wi-Fi network.

Similar to AirPlay is another neat feature called AirPrint, which, like you can probably guess, allows users to print webpages, e-mails, photos, and documents right from their iPad 2, provided they’re connected to a Wi-Fi network.

Also, users can now connect their iPad 2’s to a television or projector with a new feature called Video Mirroring. In order to share what’s happening on their iPad, users can simply plug a new 30-pin to HDMI adapter into their iPad and then they can plug an HDMI cable into the other end, which can then be connected to an HDMI capable device, such as a television. There is also a USB port on the 30-pin to HDMI connector so that users can charge their iPad at the same time.

Video Mirroring will also display exactly what’s on your iPad’s screen, even if you were to rotate the device from portrait mode to landscape mode or zoom in and out of pictures. This new feature is actually built into the iOS, which allows for slick, smooth, transitions.

With the new iPad 2 also comes a new cover for the device, called the iPad Smart Cover. However, unlike previous iPad covers, the Smart Cover actually secures to your iPad using two magnets, which also align the cover so that you don’t have to worry about how it looks.

The Smart Cover can also wake your iPad 2 up when you open it, and put it to sleep when you close it. In addition, the iPad Smart Cover can also be folded into a typing or movie stand. The Smart Cover comes in both polyurethane and leather, and each version comes in ten different colors.

As for the colors of the device itself, the iPad 2 will come in both black and white and both colors will be available when the device launches on March 11, 2011.

Also, the iPad 2 will be running iOS 4, which allows users to multitask, as well as other features.

The iPad 2 can be ordered from the online Apple Store, starting on March 11, 2011 or purchased from a brick-and-mortar Apple Store starting at 5:00 PM, starting on March 11, 2011. (Users who purchase the iPad 2 in-store will also receive free Personal Setup.)

For more information about the iPad 2, you should check out the iPad section of Apple’s website.

Recently, Apple announced their new MacBook Pro, which includes some upgrades, as well as new features.

The new MacBook pro still features a unibody aluminum case, which replaces multiple parts of a case with just one. Also like before, the MacBook Pro has a multi-touch trackpad, as well as a magnetic latch, rather than a clasp or other mechanism, in order to keep the computer closed.

The new MacBook Pro features Intel Core i5 and i7 processors, with the i7 being standard in the 15 and 17 inch models and and the i5 for the 13 inch version of the product. However, users can choose to have the Intel Core i7 processor in the 13 inch if they wish. These new Intel processors can perform up to twice as fast as the previous generations could.

Also included in the new MacBook Pro is a feature called “Turbo-Boost 2.0”, which enables users to perform processor intensive tasks, causing the processor to automatically increase the speed of the active cores to up to 3.4 GHz.

Another new feature that was included in this update to the MacBook Pro is called “Thunderbolt”, which is a fast I/O, or input/output, port, which was created after collaboration between both Intel and Apple. The new “Thunderbolt” port, which is located on the side of the MacBook Pro, similar to a USB port, enables users to plug in both HD displays and high-speed peripherals, such as an external hard drive or other device.

There are also adapters that users can use so that they can utilize the Thunderbolt port for peripherals that require the use of a USB cord or FireWire cable or even Ethernet or Fibre Channel networks. Since Thunderbolt is based on DisplayPort technology, users can connect any Mini DisplayPort display to the MacBook Pro, using the Thunderbolt port. Also, users can connect DisplayPort, DVI, HDMI, or VGA displays to their computer’s Thunderbolt port using an adapter.

In addition, Apple’s FaceTime users will be happy to know that the MacBook Pro now has a high definition FaceTime camera, capable of recording video in 720p HD. The FaceTime HD camera also supports an aspect ration of 16:9, which will allows more area to be in the shot.

The new MacBook Pro also has a SDXC card reader built into the 13 and 15 inch models, which supports up to 64GB memory cards. This feature will allow users to quickly and easily transfer images from their digital cameras, right to their computers.

Hyperthreading is another new feature, which is now standard on the MacBook Pro. Hyperthreading allows for two threads to run at the same time on each processor core, which means that the MacBook Pro will recognize eight virtual cores on a quad-core processor and four virtual cores on a dual-core processor. By doing this, the computer will be able to “balance” tasks throughout the different virtual cores, giving it better performance.

Another new addition to the MacBook Pro is the Intel HD Graphics 3000 processor, which allows users to do graphics related tasks, such as encoding video and using Apple’s new HD FaceTime camera more efficiently. In the 15 and 17 inch versions of the MacBook Pro, there is a new AMD Radeon graphics processor, which also allows for graphic intensive applications, such as gaming and video editing.

If you’re interested in purchasing a MacBook Pro, the 13 inch model starts at $1,199, the 15 inch model starts at $1,799, and the 17 inch model starts at $2,499.

For more information about the new MacBook Pro lineup, or to purchase one, you should check out the MacBook Pro section of Apple’s website.

Would you know what to do if you spilled something on your laptop or cell phone? Should you unplug the device, remove the battery, or simply wipe the offending liquid off? Below is a guide that should help you to answer these questions so that you can save your electronics should something spill on them.

If you happen to spill something on your laptop, cell phone, or other electronic device, one of the first things that you should do is to unplug your device. After your device has been unplugged or if it wasn’t plugged in to begin with, you should then remove it’s battery so that there is no electricity going into it, which could cause something to short out, as well as other problems.

Then, you should either turn the device upside down, in order to prevent any liquid from getting further into it and then use a towel to clean up the liquid and dry off your device.

After doing this, if the liquid you spilled is sticky or may cause more harm than water, you may want to consider opening up your device, if you’re able to, and then use a cloth dampened with regular water, in order to clean off any of the liquid that may have gotten into your device. If you didn’t spill anything that requires rinsing, you may still want to consider opening your device up and checking to see if any water got into it that would need to be wiped up.

Once you’ve cleaned up the spill and checked to be sure that it isn’t inside of your device, you should allow the device, still without any power, to dry for a while before trying to use it again.

Another tip for someone who has spilled water on a smaller device, such as a cell phone, would be to place the phone into a bowl of dry rice, in order to try and draw out any moisture that may be in the device.

For more information about how to save your electronics from spills, I would suggest that you check out this article from Engadget, as well as this article from eHow, on how to save your laptop from a spill, and this article, also from eHow, on how to save a cell phone from a spill.

If you’re a FaceBook user, you may have recently noticed that when you click on someone’s photo, a black box appears, showing the photo that you selected, rather than the photo being displayed on a new page within FaceBook. This is actually a part of some recent enhancements to FaceBook’s photo sharing experience.

Back in September of last year, FaceBook published a blog post, saying that they would be updating some things involving their photo sharing features, which included higher resolution images, a better photo viewer, as well as easier photo tagging and uploading.

However, on February 11, 2011, FaceBook posted an update to this blog post, saying that the new photo viewer would be rolling out to everyone over the next few weeks. Also, users would now be able to browse through photos faster than before and would not have to lose their place on FaceBook while doing so.

When users click on a picture now, a black frame, called a “lightbox”, will appear with the selected image in the center of it. This new feature will allow users to both view and comment on pictures without having to go to a new page, as the lightbox simply appears over the page that they’re currently on.

Also, users can view the previous and next photos in an album by clicking on arrows at either side of the image being displayed. Clicking on the image will also bring the user to the next photo in an album, like before. When users are ready to return to the page that they were on before clicking on a photo, all they need to do is click on the page in the background, or click on the “x” located at the top of the right side of the lightbox.

For more information about FaceBook’s recent photo updates, you should check out this blog post from Facebook’s blog. If you’re interested in how the new photo viewing “lightbox” was developed, you should check out this post from FaceBook’s Engineering Blog.

If you haven’t already heard, tonight on Jeopardy!, there will be a rather “different” looking contestant named Watson.

The reason that Watson is different than all of the previous Jeopardy! contestants is because he’s not a human, but a supercomputer, which was developed by IBM and is capable of answering questions that are posed in a natural language.

“Watson”, named after the founder of IBM, Thomas J. Watson, is made up of a cluster of 90 IBM Power 750 servers, in addition to some other hardware components, and contains a total of 2,880 POWER 7 processor cores and also has over 16 Terabytes of RAM. Running on this supercomputer will be IBM’s DeepQA software.

Already, “Watson” has been able to beat Jeopardy! contestants in practice rounds, so it will be interesting to see how this computer matches up when he goes up against two of Jeopardy!’s champions – Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter.

There will be three episodes of Jeopardy! featuring “Watson”, which begin tonight at 7:30 PM (Eastern) and last through Wednesday, February 16, 2011.

For more information about IBM’s Watson supercomputer, you should check out IBM’s website about “Watson”, as well as this article on Wikipedia.