Google has open-sourced SkyMap
googleresearch.blogspot.com
googleresearch.blogspot.com
It's better than that, however. There are a lot of these cool apps from Google that are/were obviously 20% projects but which really showcase Android. "Listen" was one of my favorites for a long time. I wish they would open source that. This is a great solution to deal with something that is a nice showcase product but which is not a core competency / business driver and probably should be sidelined in some regard.
Google: please open source the other stagnant, cool apps you have in your product stable. Think of it as releasing the horses back into the wild.
Free range your unhealthy apps, big G. Let the apps run away like wild horses over the hills. /bukowski
ChromeToPhone is another one. It's well updated but I live in fear of them abandoning it. I use it constantly.
Many an hour has been spent sat outside, usually round a camp fire, with friends locating planets and other points of interest, walking round pointing my phone at the sky looking like a loon to the uninitiated! I find it very VERY encouraging that this product wasn't just left alone to die a graceful death of old age, but that it will be dissected in front of all, enabling the knowledge and skill imbued in its programming to live on in educating the next generation of programmers. .. I hope it inspires them as much as it inspired me!
Thanks Google!
"Sky Map’s development will now be driven by the students, with Google engineers remaining closely involved as advisors."
That sounds pretty awesome, especially for the students involved.