Google April Fools Gag Earns Big Laughs, But Is Microsoft Laughing?

If you thought Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Mail was innovative, wait until you see Gmail Motion.

The service will reportedly use your computer's built-in webcam, as well as “Google's patented spatial tracking technology to detect your movements and translate them into meaningful characters and commands.” Google insists that movements are designed to be “simple and intuitive for people of all skill levels.” The company even provided a few graphs:

The gag (which, as of 3:20 p.m. EST, has garnered more than 850,000 hits on YouTube) is hilarious. But you have to wonder: what does Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), the makers of the hugely popular Kinect motion controller, think? Intentional or not, it feels as if Google's joke was pointed in Bill Gates' direction.

Then again, the Windows maker could always show ‘em who's boss by taking Google's ideas and creating a real product: Hotmail Motion.