Digital Prank

Google Earth is now getting better by allowing users to identify stars and planets in the sky during night user their Android-powered mobile phone using a Google application. The application for Android was initially said to be named as Star Droid which uses the camera in your mobile but Google Official Blog mentions it as Google Sky Map and it doesn’t use the camera. Google Sky Map turns your Android-powered mobile phone into a dynamic window on the night sky. The new Google Sky Map technology makes use of the Android’s GPS systems to identify the position of the user and compares this with existing maps of space. The application then automatically attaches name tags to the stars, planets and constellations through a specially constructed map giving you a whole new sky mapping experience.

Android-powered phones today have access to a compass reading as well as the other sensors, and so they can also determine the direction you’re facing. Once you have a phone with a compass (”magnetometer”), a plumbline (”accelerometer”), and you can pinpoint your position (using GPS) and your time (using a clock), that’s enough to work out which direction you’re pointing in the Universe. Sky Map for Android will not as good as Google Earth but it is a really cool and useful application for star gazers. You can read more about Sky Map at Official Google Mobile blog and Google LatLong blog. You can download Sky Map from the Android Market.