I just released another update for Musical (my Android application) with a couple quick (but significant) changes:

• The unstable grand piano has been converted into a stable 3-octave piano.  The disabled octaves will be re-enabled once Google updates Android’s sound API
• The pop-ups and disclaimers on the piano have been removed (it should be reasonably stable now)
• A 2-octave piano (pictured) has been added, which shows 2 octaves at once (the regular piano shows 1 octave and requires scrolling)
• Musical now quietly checks for updates when you open it (thus the new required Internet permission)

This summer I decided to teach myself SketchUp (by Google) by making a model of the town clock in Santa Cruz to add to Google Earth’s 3d buildings layer.  I went out and on a nice day and took about 80 photos from every angle and of every surface.  I went through each photo until I found the best view of each surface, then I meticulously edited it in photoshop and made perfect textures for all of them.  I started modeling and finished the entire top half.  Then I got busy…  Summer was quickly coming to an end and I had to tragically push it back into my started but never finished folder.  Now, 6 months or so since I started, Winter break provided the bit of free time I needed to finish it up.  And so, I present to the world (which doesn’t care has been waiting patiently): the Santa Cruz Clock Tower.

The model is available in the Google SketchUp 3d Warehouse by clicking here.  From there, it can be downloaded into SketchUp or viewed in Google Earth.  It’s currently in the approval process for the Google Earth 3d buildings layer, and if it gets approved, it will automatically show up in Google Earth for everyone (who has the 3d buildings turned on).

UPDATE: Google has now generated a “3D View” of the model that you can rotate with javascript on the Warehouse page.

It’s just just over a month since I first uploaded Musical to the Android Market. Since then I’ve gotten 17,500 downloads (over 8000 active installs), 318 reviews (for an average of 4/5 stars), and emails from over 40 users.

In the process I’ve learned quite a bit about how the Market operates and more importantly, about dealing with its users. The following is a collection of notes, helpful tips, and my thoughts on the Android Market…

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