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One of my favorite pastimes has to be pulling pranks around the office. The pranks may leave a sour taste in the mouth of the recipient for a few days, but in the end they often lead to some good laughs and classic memories.

April Fools' Day naturally lends itself to a flurry of random jokes and pranks, so I took the liberty of rounding up some tech-inspired pranks. I hope you find a way to put one, if not all of them, to use--heck, it doesn't even have to be on April 1!

Here, let me Google that for you Do you have a co-worker who refuses to look anything up on the Internet for himself? Do you often feel like your name should be "Google"? On April 1, send the lazy Web searcher a link to LMGTFY; perhaps he'll learn a thing or two.

To use LMGTFY, visit the site, type in a search query, and click on either search button. You will then be presented with a link to copy and send off to the unsuspecting recipient. The link you send will then open a Web page with an animation teaching the recipient how to use Google. After the site automatically fills in the search bar with the query and clicks on the search button, he will be redirected to the actual Google search results. … Read more

For Android tablet owners, shopping the Google Play Store can sometimes be a pain, with tons of scaled-up phone apps hiding among the truly tablet-optimized. Sure, there's always the curated Staff Picks for Tablets section, but that offers only a tiny taste of all the delicious HD goodness that's really out there.

Enter Tablified Market--a curated market just for tablet-specific apps. The people behind it have a strict set of criteria that an app must meet in order to be included in the database, which to us means no more phone apps in search results. For one, an … Read more

Deborah Moncure and her app bring a new spin to the notion of a "Jesus Phone."

When Moncure, who works for the Central Baptist Church in St. Louis, Mo., was looking around last year for a way to get information out about the church's schedule and activities, she initially sought to upgrade her Web site. But upon realizing the number of parishioners--and younger potential parishioners--carrying smartphones, she opted to build an app instead.

But the fee for getting an app placed in the Apple App Store and Android was a little too high for a nonprofit. Moncure … Read more

Amazon Appstore users can enjoy birthday discounts this week on such apps as Plants vs. Zombies, Fruit Ninja, Wolfram Alpha, and Splashtop Remote Desktop.

Starting today, users can grab a 67 percent discount off Plants vs. Zombies. Normally selling for $2.99, the popular game can be had for just 99 cents today. Tomorrow, two more deals will debut, followed by three new deals on the third day, and so on into next week, Amazon said today.

"Customers have used the Amazon Appstore to test drive and buy millions of apps and games for their Kindle Fire and other … Read more

Sometimes it's difficult to decide if you should spend money on the pro or full version of an app. The free version may be "good enough," but sometimes you can get rid of annoying ads or gain extra features for just a few bucks. In many cases, the way to decide on buying an app will differ for each app and each person. Here are the points I consider, along with some from an article on Lifehacker, before I buy an app:

Read the list of benefits What sort of new features will you … Read more

To celebrate the launch of its new Google Play Store, the search-giant-turned-media-middleman is putting some of its top downloads on sale. The former Android Market's top 25 paid apps are now available for 49 cents each, while the rental prices of selected movies have dropped to 99 cents each. Some of the discounted apps include popular hits like Shadowgun, NFL Flick Quarterback, and SwiftKey X Keyboard. And while the discounted movies may not be quite as attractive ("Good Luck Chuck"?) as the app offerings, there are a certainly a few gems worth a look ("3:10 … Read more

Google has rebranded Android Market and outlined plans to be your multiplatform ecosystem. The problem: We already have a few of those multiplatform ecosystems.

The search giant's Google Play (the area formerly known as Android Market) will feature books, music, apps and movies. Google Play is designed to be a one-stop content shop. In Google's vision, you'll swap files and content between your Android smartphone, Chromebook and tablet. We'll overlook the fact that few of you have the latter two devices.

Google obviously wants to change that tablet equation. Google Play is a nice set-up for … Read more

Google, which has been largely criticized for fragmenting its offerings, is taking a step toward unifying its digital media services. Today, Google announced Google Play, a service that combines Google Music, Books, Movies, and Apps into one entertainment hub.

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1. Here's the scoop. In a nutshell, Google Music, Google eBookstore, and the Android Market were combined to form Google Play. Not only will you purchase music, movies, books, and apps at play.google.com, but those items will also be stored in the cloud. You'll be able to do the same thing on your Android phone … Read more

Google is rebuilding Android Market.

The Internet giant, looking to create a more comprehensive source for movies, apps, music, and e-books, is folding Google Music and Google eBookstore into one store, now renamed Google Play, according to Jamie Rosenberg, director of digital content for Google. The changes go into effect today.

Google Play marks a radical departure from Android Market, which has been a fixture of the company's mobile platform since the debut of Android more than three years ago. The move is a tacit admission that offering apps, games, and e-books--the main features of Android Market--isn't enough … Read more